Kingdom of Dragons
by supercar14
Summary: After a failed attempt to save the Empire and prevent a war, the Dragonborn and company find themselves shipwrecked in a new land about to explode into a war of it's own, and if they want to survive, neutrality is not an option. Things go from bad to worse when it's discovered that one of their own is not who they claim to be.
1. Chapter 1

**So this is my second attempt at a fanfiction. My first didn't work out and to be deleted, but while I'm no professional, I have gotten better at writing. I've been reading the other crossovers lately and they've inspired me to try again. Enough of my rating. Enjoy!**

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><p>The bald man who stood in the doorway didn't even flinch when Yorren jumped at him from out of the bed with his dragonbone dagger drawn. Once his eyes adjusted and his initial shock had passed he lowered the dagger.<p>

"Gregor, what are you doing?", Yorren asked as he sat back down at the edge of his bed.

"Forgive the intrusion my Thane, but a Legionnaire has just arrived with an urgent message for you."

Yorren looked out the window and saw that the sun was only beginning to rise. "What could be so important that he arrived now?"

"He didn't say. Only that it was of the utmost importance."

The woman who was still in the bed groaned. "Yorren, tell whoever it is it better be important before I eat them," Serana sleepily muttered.

Yorren laughed under his breath and turned back to Gregor. "Alright. Tell him I will be down in a few minutes.

"Yes my Thane." With that Gregor turned and left the room, shutting the door behind him.

Yorren smiled as Serana slowly sat up and the bed sheet fell down exposing her bare chest. She caught him staring and smirked.

"Enjoy the view?" She asked as she teasingly squeezed her breasts with her arms.

Yorren only smiled wider. While he did enjoy her teasing he was also transfixed by the way her unnaturally pale skin seemed to glow in the early morning light. AS much as he wanted to stay he had to see what the Legionnaire had the was so important. He didn't feel like taking the time to dress in his Imperial Officer armor but also wasn't just going to throw on a simple robe either. He finally settled on a set of brown fine clothes with a yellow trim and fixed a gold Imperial Dragon pin to the breast.

He smiled at Serana who'd sat in the bed watching him while he dressed. "You Know, for a person who doesn't need sleep you sure do take a long time to get up."

She leaned back stretched. "I like to sleep. I try to enjoy it for as long as I can." Yorren gave her look that made her roll her eyes. "Fine. I'll put on something to you as ordered!"presentable and meet you downstairs in a few minutes." Yorren leaned in and kissed her before walking out of the room.

As Yorren descended the stairs to the main hall he saw a young orc clad in Imperial Studded armor jump o his feet and salute him. "Quaestor Gholob reporting

Yorren saluted back. "At ease soldier."

"Yes legate.. Err.. Sir…"

"Just sit down and relax." The orc nodded and returned to the chair he had been sitting in. "Gregor would you mind fetching us some drinks?" Gregor nodded and left to the kitchen. The orc Legionnaire looked uncomfortable. "Something wrong?"

"No. Sir, it's just, unusual being served by a superior officer."

Yorren chuckled. "I'm not a usual officer. Plus you are a guest in my home. It would be discourteous not too." Yorren studded the orc for a moment. "What's your full name?" Gregor returned with two mugs of ale and set them between the two.

"Bogamul Gholob, sir."

"Ah, yes. I remember you now. You fought at the Battle of Whindhelm."

The orc visibly swelled with pride. "Yes sir! One of my first assignments. Killed fifteen men on my own."

Yorren smiled and nodded. He was one of the best at killing when he had to, but unlike most Nords he didn't revel in it. The two turned and looked as Serana descended down the stairs. She was wearing a short green and gold dress with a brown decorative corset. Yorren made a mental note to discuss what he meant by 'presentable', though he was sure she wore it just to needle him. Bogamul was starring with his mouth hanging open though Yorren couldn't tell if it was at Serana's cleavage, or her bright glowing orange eyes.

Yorren cleared his throat. "So my steward says you have an important message for me?"

Bogamul's face hardened. "It's the Emperor sir. He's been assassinated. In Solitude. "

Yorren was speechless. Even Serana was shocked at the news. "How?" He was finally able to ask, though he already suspected the answer and it not one he wanted to hear.

"The Dark Brotherhood." Yorren's stomach sank. He resisted the urge to vomit ask Bogamul handed him a letter. "For General Tullius. He wanted to inform you before word could travel this far out."

Yorren took the letter. "How long ago did this happen?" He asked as he opened it.

"Three days, sir."

"I'm impressed with your fortitude. It's normally a weeks ride to here from Solitude."

If Bogamul answered Yorren didn't notice. He was too transfixed on the letter. The emperor had indeed been assassinated on his own ship in the Solitude docks. General Tullius had ordered him to Solitude for a meeting and special assignment, but what it was the letter didn't say. Only to get there as fast as possible. He'd lead the assault on the Falkreath Sanctuary and none of the Dark Brotherhood had escaped. Commander Maro's men had made sure of that. Maro had told him that was the last sanctuary the Brotherhood had. Apparently he'd been wrong.

"Maro you stupid moronic fuck..." Yorren crumpled the letter and threw it in the hearth. "Gregor ready the horses. We'll be leaving for Whiterun in a few hours. All of us."

"Aye my Thane." He bowed and left for the stables.

"Sir?" Bogamul asked.

"It's my daughter. I'll head to Solitude once she's safely in the city." Bogamul nodded.

Serana leaned down. "I'll go wake her and tell her to pack," She then left the room leaving only Bogamul and Yorren.

The orc still looked confused so Yorren recounted the events with Astrid and the Dark Brotherhood. "You think that the Brotherhood will retaliate?" Bogamul asked.

Yorren simply nodded. "I must go get ready. I'll meet you outside at the stables when I am." Bogamul saluted and left out the same door Gregor had.

Yorren held his face in his hands, wanting this to be some horrible dream. After a few minutes he stood and walked back up to his room. He opened an armor chest and withdrew his Dragonbone Ebonsteel armor. He'd worked alongside Skyrim's greatest blacksmith Eorlund Gray-Mane to create the unique armor that was nearly as strong as the infamous Daedric armor. As he was putting it on Serana walked in and began to remove her clothes.

"Lucia seems excited to go to Whiterun. She's getting ready now."

"What did you tell her?"

"Not much. Just that we had to go to Solitude for some business for a while." She opened a chest on the other side of the bed that held her Royal Vampire armor and put it on. "I think it's cute when she calls Lydia auntie."

Yorren chuckled. "You know she hates it." Serana just smiled

He finished putting his armor on minus the helmet, and put on a crimson sash and cloak, both trimmed in gold and embroidered with the Imperial Dragon emblem. He placed his helmet, shield, two daggers, two one-handed swords, a greatsword, and a bow with forty arrows in a bag. Whatever mission Tullius had in mind for him, he was going to be prepared.

Serana looked into his eyes. She always said that in the right light his silver eyes glowed like her did. "We're going to get through this."

"I know."

Yorren and Serana came down the stairs again this time to an exited Lucia. Yorren envied her, but there was no reason to tell her real reason she was going back to Whiterun. The three of them walked outside and saw Gregor and Bogamul already mounted and ready to go. After loading their gear on the horses the five of them set out for the trip to Whiterun. Yorren took one final look at his self-named Frostborn Manor before heading off. He'd built it with Serana and Gregor after their last home Heljarchen Hall was burned down by bandits. No one had been hurt, but he put them to the sword no the less, and hung their bodies on pikes around the perimeter. He always said he'd rebuild it eventually, but he put it off since Serana and Lucia seemed happier where they were now.

The trip to Whiterun was shorter than he remembered it. They'd made it to the main gates before the sun had fully risen. Most of the guards happily greeted him with one of his many titles; Thane, Harbinger, Dragonborn, he heard them all and greeted them in kind. A few were noticeably weary of Serana as her glowing orange eyes were still visible from under her hood, but none said anything or made an attempt to stop them. Despite the early morning hour the trade capital of Skyrim was already bustling with activity. Normally he would have stopped to talk but he was in a rush. They soon arrived in front of Breezehome. Yorren knocked on the door and after a few minutes a tired looking Lydia dressing in a simple robe opened.

Before she could say anything Lucia ran and jumped hugged her. "Auntie Lydia!"

Lydia caught her with an 'oof' and rolled her eyes. After the two separated Lydia hugged both Yorren and Serana. "So what brings you all to Whiterun?"

"Can we talk about it inside?" Yorren asked. Lydia nodded as everyone shuffled in the small house. Yorren proceeded to tell Lydia about the emperor's assassination and his orders to report to Solitude.

"The Dark Brotherhood? I thought you wiped them out?"

"So did I, but I was wrong." He knew Lydia was about to say something and he held up his hand to stop her. "I need you to stay here and watch over Lucia while I'm gone. Between you, Gregor, and the Companions there isn't a safer place for her."

"I understand. Don't worry I'll keep her safe."

Yorren smiled and hugged her. "I know you will. I wish I could stay and catch up, but I have my orders."

Lucia came running out into the main room. "Well aren't you just a ball of energy today?" Lydia said. Lucia laughed. "Maybe later we'll go out to the market and you can play with Lars and Mila."

"That'd be great!" Lucia giggled.

"Alright come on. We should show your parents off."

With that the group returned outside the city gates. Both he and Serana hugged Lucia. "Now you behave and do what Lydia tells you. Alright?"

"I promise. Can I go and visit the Companions too?"

Yorren laughed. "If you behave."

She sighed. "Okay. I will."

"Keep the horses just in case anything anything happens." Yorren told Lydia.

"How are you getting to Solitude then? Carriages are notoriously slow."

Yorren smiled. "The fastest way I know how." He turned away from the group and took a deep breath. "**OD AH VIING!**"

In only a few minutes the unmistakable sound of a dragon's roar echoed around them, and the familiar red dragon appeared in the sky.

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><p><strong>I'll try to update as often as I can, but I tend to have a hectic schedule so I can't make any promises. While I have some idea of what's going to happen in the story I don't have the ending planned yet. It'll be fun to see how the story plays itself out.<strong>

**Next time: Yorren and Serana arrive in Solitude and are given a rather, unusual, assignment. Cheers everyone!  
><strong>


	2. Chapter 2

It was midday when Yorren and Serana arrived at Solitude. Quaestor Gholob had elected to travel back on his own. Odahviing circled the city searching for a good landing spot, before finally deciding on landing between the outer guard wall and the main gate. A small crowd that had been gathered at the main gate fled when Odahviing finally did land, Yorren and Serana hopped off the dragon's neck.

"Thank you for the ride friend."

"Will you be in need of my ahmik again?"

"I'm not sure how long this will be. Why don't you find a few bandit camps and entertain yourself?"

The dragon chuckled. "Eh geh, tol dreh honaat ofanjiik. Then I bid you a short farewell Dovahkiin." With that the dragon flew off.

"Well you two sure do know how to make an entrance."

Yorren turned around and saw one of the last people he wanted to. Tribune Namia Valnnia had been a Stormcloak officer during the civil war, in fact her betrayal of them had been instrumental in turning the tides of the war. She'd given General Tullius the locations of dozens of camps and supply lines that had been sneaked behind Imperial lines. When the war was over Tullius gave her an honorary promotion. Yorren distrusted her enough because of her betrayal of the Stormcloaks, but what made him nervous about her were her reasons for doing so, or rather, her lack of reasons. Whenever anyone asked her about her change of allegiance she would only reply with, 'it's personal', or 'my reasons are my own'. That was fine for General Tullius and he supposed it should be good enough for him, since he'd almost joined them himself. But there was just something about her that Yorren could never quite figure out that just made him uneasy. He always seemed to wonder when she would betray them has she had the Stormcloaks.

"Tribune Valnnia." Yorren flatly greeted.

She mock saluted them. "Legate Frostborn, Lady Volkihar."

"I no longer use my family name." Serana said dryly.

"I'm sorry to hear that. It suited you much better."

"Watch you tongue!" Yorren snapped.

Namia bowed her head. "Forgive me. The General as sent me to escort you to Castle Dour. If you'll follow me please."

"I'm quite sure I am capable of finding it myself."

"It's a security precaution. If you hadn't noticed, and being up on your dragon friend you probably didn't, the people of Solitude aren't exactly happy with the Empire right now. A little something to do with letting the Emperor die, perhaps?"

Between the smug look in her silver eyes and her blatant disrespectful tone, Yorren nearly punched her in the face. Serana put her hand on his shoulder. "Let it go."

Yorren sighed. "Alright. Let's go."

Namia let a smile slip for a second before turning around and walking to the main gate. Once the three had made it through Yorren quickly saw that she was right. He could see from the gate that a large crowd had gathered around Castle Dour. While he couldn't make out everything that they were saying, he could tell that they were very angry at the Imperial Legion. Several city and Imperial guards were managing to keep the crowd in line for now, but once tempers got flared it didn't take much for a riot to break out. Yorren hoped it wouldn't come to that.

"Why don't I go to the Inn and get us a room." Serana asked. Yorren nodded. "Here, let me take your gear."

"Alright, just let me get something first." He set down the bag and pulled out his dragonbone greatsword.

"I hope you're not planning on using that?"

"It's just for show." Yorren smiled and kissed her before following Namia.

As the two made their way towards the crowd Namia attempted to get the crowd to part, but was having little effect. It was then that Yorren pushed her aside and shouted "MOVE!" A few citizens stopped and looked. It was one thing to be yelled at by guards, it was another to be yelled at by a man fully clad in dragon bones wielding a sword nearly as big as he was. Only then did one of them recognize him. "It's the dragonborn!" He yelled. Slowly others began to shout "Make way for the dragonborn!" It wasn't long before the crowd had split and Yorren and Namia were able to get to the castle.

"Thanks for that." One of the guards said as they walked through the door. "Alright everyone, go home!" Yorren saw the crowd slowly disperse as the doors to Castle Dour closed.

"That was impressive." Namia said.

Yorren saw she as being sincere, but only replied with "humph."

They entered the main meeting chamber, the room where the civil war had been planned. Yorren had a brief feeling of nostalgia as he looked over the map of Skyrim, now with a Red flag over each hold and fort. The feeling quickly faded as he saw Commander Maro sitting in the corner. His normally neatly trimmed anchor beard had become unkempt and mangy and he large dark circles under his eyes. He looked like he hadn't slept in days, and he likely hadn't. Maro looked up and gave Yorren a menacing glare. No doubt Maro blamed him thinking he hadn't killed them all. Before either could say anything General Tullius, followed by Legates Rikke and Caesennius entered. Yorren and Namia saluted them, as Maro slowly rose to do the same. Tullius nodded.

"At ease everyone." Maro slumped back down in his chair. "So I'm sure you all know why I called you here."

Maro snorted and stood. "Yeah." He point to Yorren. "Because HE couldn't do his job!"

"I did! Ask your men! Ask your men if even ONE person escaped! Just ONE! No one will tell that, since no one made it out of that sanctuary! All their bodies were accounted for! YOU had faulty information!"

"Do you know how much it cost me to even get the information that I had!? I cost me my damn son!"

"I'm sorry. I didn't know... But that doesn't change the fact that your information was bad. And now my daughter is in danger too."

"Alright that's enough from both of you." General Tullius intervened. "We're not here to place blame."

"Sorry sir." Yorren said. Maro grumbled something under his breath.

"Do you really think that the Dark Brotherhood will retaliate against your family?" Tullius asked Yorren.

Maro answered. "Yes. Yes they would. They taunted me when they killed the Emperor."

"What happened?" Yorren asked.

Legate Caesennius handed Yorren a rolled up piece of paper. "A man handed this to the Commander while he was on the docks. We questioned him but he didn't know anything. Just that a woman in black robes and face mask paid him one hundred septims to deliver it."

Yorren read the note. It consisted of only a black hand print and the line, 'You're not very good at your job, are you?'

"Moving on." Tullius walked around the group. "The discussion we are about to have does not leave this room." He looked at everyone attending. "Do you understand?" The group nodded, except for Yorren who looked confused.

"I get the feeling I've been left out of an important conversation."

"We're informing you now. Back to my previous question. This stays between us. Understand?" Yorren nodded. "Good. Now, with the death of the Emperor the Empire has been crippled. The Thalmor have pulled all their dignitaries out of Skyrim. They haven't been on the best of terms with the Empire since Elenwen was assassinated. I believe they are preparing for an attack."

"Wouldn't the Emperor's son take the throne?" Yorren asked.

"The Emperor's son is not strong enough to rule. He's a pompous young boy who cares more for women and wine than for his responsibilities as a ruler."

"Then what about the Elder Council? Shouldn't they intervene if the Emperor is unfit?"

"That's where we have a problem. Legate Caesennius, would you mind filling him in?"

"We have reason to believe that the Elder Council arranged the assassination." Caesennius stated.

Yorren was shocked. The Elder Council was never very friendly to the Emperor, but assassinating one? That was unheard of. "Why do you think that?'

"Over a month ago Councilman Amaund Motierre left the Imperial City for Skyrim on what he claimed, personal business. After the Emperor was killed, Motierre was also found dead in the Bannered Mare in Whiterun. He had a black hand print on his chest and below it the word 'Traitor' was carved into him body."

"An assassin with a conscience?"

Tullius continued the conversation. "So that brings us here. We have an Emperor unfit to rule, and an Elder Council consorting with assassins, essentially, we have an Empire without a leader." Yorren wasn't sure he like where this was going but he simply nodded along. "We've come up with a plan to amend that. We're going to install you as the Emperor."

"... Say that again. I must have misheard you."

Legate Rikke spoke now. "The Empire needs a strong leader, and it needs one now."

"Yes, but, why me?"

"You're the Dragonborn, to put it simply. Even though the Emperors don't formally use the Dragonborn title anymore, the dragon is still the symbol of the Empire. The people of Skyrim will support you, I'm sure of it and your deeds are was known throughout the Empire. The General holds quite a lot respect in the military and with them behind you, even the Elder Council will have to accept you."

"What of the Supreme Commander?"

"You mean the one that lost the Great War?"

Yorren didn't need to hear more to figure out the next part. Tullius would have him removed and take his place most likely. "You know we could all be executed for treason for this?"

"Let me be frank." Tullius interjected. "I swore an oath to defend the Emperor and his Empire. We all did. And now the Emperor is dead, and I don't intend to see the Empire die with him. I can't force you to accept this, but with a strong Emperor and an organized military we would be able to fight the Dominion when war finally does come. And trust me, it will come, sooner or later."

"It almost sounds like you want to install me as a puppet ruler so you can have your war unfettered."

"Excuse me, General?" Namia spoke up. "May I have a word with the Legate alone?" Tullius nodded and motioned for everyone to leave.

"You were awfully quite. What do you want to say that can't be said in front of them?" Yorren asked once the two were alone.

"This was my idea you know."

"What!?"

"Look, I know how you feel about and trust me, I don't blame you. And I haven't exactly been as respectful as I should have been but... Skyrim is still a broken land, and without her the Empire will fall apart. Not only would having a Nord Emperor unite Skyrim again, but having the Dragonborn himself as the Emperor would restore the very heart and soul of the Empire itself."

"Why did you betray the Stormcloaks?"

"When the time is right, I promise I'll tell you, but not now."

She was being the most sincere with him than she'd ever been. "Alright. I'll do it. What's the plan?"

"General Tullius has been working on that, not me." Namia knocked on the door the rest had gone through and shortly everyone had filled back in. "He agreed."

"Good." Tullius said. "Now as to getting us in. This is going to have done in secret and I have no doubt that the Thalmor are going to be watching all the main roads in Cyrodiil so traveling by land isn't an option. We'll have to go by boat."

"Boat? That would take almost a month. And we'd have to sail around Morrowind or we'd be going right though Dominion territory." Yorren said.

"I know. But we don't have any other option, that's why we need to move quickly. I've commissioned four trading barges, each one will be commanded by you, myself, Legate Rikke, and Tribune Valnnia respectively. Each will have around a hundred Legionnaires. I don't expect we'll need much more. There shouldn't be much resistance getting into the city."

The plan didn't sit well with Yorren and he was surprised that Tullius was able to arrange it in such short time, but the General was nothing if not efficient. "Alright, but about my daughter? I'm not all that comfortable being away for that long of a time if the Dark Brotherhood is still lurking about."

"I'll send a detachment to protect her. Is that sufficient?"

"Yes. Thank you. She's staying in Whiterun. I'm the Jarl's Thane, let me send him a letter so he understands why they're there." Tullius nodded. "When do we leave?"

"Once everything's ready. Hopefully within the next few days."

"I have one more request General."

"Alright what is it?"

"Permission to bring my wife. She is a powerful spellcaster and skilled infiltrator."

"The vampire?" Yorren was surprised. He wasn't expecting him know about Serana. "It's not like you've tried keep it a secret."

"You disapprove?"

"Who you chose to share your bed with is none of my concern... Yes, fine bring her. But if she kills any of my Legionnaires, I'll have her head."

"Thank you sir." He ignored Tullius' comment. It was just posturing. Yorren doubted that even if Serana did kill one of his men that the General would lay a hand on her.

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><p>"This is insane!" Serana shouted pacing across the room.<p>

"I don't much like it either." Yorren said trying to pacify her while he dressed into a simple tunic.

She slumped down on the bed in their rented room and sighed. "I don't know it... Maybe I'm just being paranoid but it doesn't feel right."

"You think it's a trap?"

"Not exactly... I mean, even if the Thalmor are watching the boarders, you could be at the Imperial City in half the time if you just walked there."

"Yes but that would give the Thalmor time to mount an attack before we're ready."

"What if they see through your trick? What then?"

He hadn't thought of asking that in the discussion earlier. "You have a point. I'll bring it up to the General." She was still uncomfortable at the idea. "Look, I'm not thrilled about all this either. I can tell Tullius that I'm out."

"No don't. He's right. This needs to be done. I just wish there was another way to do it."

Yorren smiled. "You think I'm suited to be Emperor"

Serana stood and kissed him. "Oh of course not. I'm thinking about me." She spoke in a fake high class accent. "Why, I'm the daughter of royalty. Nothing but the most powerful man in all of Tamriel is good enough for me."

"Oh you little bitch."

He tackled her to bed and the two laughed like children. The laughing soon turned to kissing as Serana began to untie Yorren's tunic.

"I just put that on you know."

She smirked. "But I like you so much better without it."

He smiled and kissed her again and began to remove her clothes as she was removing his.

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><p>General Tullius was nothing if not efficient, Yorren often found himself thinking. In six days time Tullius had been able to assemble nearly five hundred men from nearly every hold in Skyrim. Just enough from each that they wouldn't be missed, and each group had taken a different route in case any unfriendly eyes had been watching. Yorren watched as the last men boarded onto his ship, if you could call it a ship. The trade barges Tullius had found looked more like awkward floating boxes with sails than a proper boat.<p>

Yorren sat in the main hold looking over the troops. Most of them were Imperials and Nords, but he spotted a few Orcs, Bretons, and Khajiit. Not many elves were enlisted in the military these days. Quaestor Gholob sat with the other Orcs drinking and sharing stories of their battles. He had volunteered to be in Yorren's unit once he'd arrived in Solitude.

Yorren decided to go above deck. Even though they'd been at sea for only an hour he already felt his stomach lurching. He already knew what Serana would say if she saw him like this. Something to the effect of 'the mighty dragonborn, beaten by a little old boat?'. He smiled to himself losing himself in his thoughts until the ship jolted violently. Has he got back up on his feet the ship jolted again. He made his way to the one-eyed Captain Hrjast, who was fighting to keep the wheel straight.

The wind began howling violently almost drowning out his voice. "Is this normal!?"

"No!" Captain shouted back. "I've never seen it pick up like this before!"

Serana came running up to him. "What in Oblivion is going on?"

Before Yorren could answer her a thick fog began to envelop them. "**LOK VAK KOOR**!" He shouted at the fog. It cleared, but to his surprise reformed around them mere moments later. "Magic." As if to punctuate his statement lightning began to arc within the cloud of fog. He shouted again clearing the sky for a few seconds. "It's a magic storm!" He was able to yell to Serana before the wind picked up even harder than it had been before.

He saw several bright flashes off to the side and made his over to see a bright orange and red glow through the fog. One the other ships was on fire. A small bolt hit one of the rigging lines on his ship, severing it and setting it on fire. Yorren cast an ice spell on it to stop the blaze and ran over to it. "Help me with this!" He yelled to Serana as he tried to grab the lose end. Several lightning bolts hit the water just next to his ship causing it to lurch to the side. Yorren and Serana were sent rolling across the deck, smashing into the railing on the opposite side. The ship began lurching and turning in every direction. Yorren looked at the ship wheel to find it unmanned. Captain Hrjast had been thrown overboard. Yorren ran to the wheel. He didn't know how to steer a ship, but figured he could at least keep it going straight. He never made it to the wheel. He felt a searing heat cut through his body accompanied by a blinding light brighter than any he'd seen before. For a brief moment he thought he was flying before the world around him went black and silent.

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><p><strong>We're finally getting GoT territory now. Thanks everyone for reading. I never expected so many views in the short time this has been posted.<strong>

**Next time: The survivors of the storm make a crash landing in a strange new world.**


	3. Chapter 3

He thought he heard someone talking to him but he couldn't understand a word of it. That damned boat rocking was starting to get him sick again, once he'd noticed it. "Wwooayy jjorr hooou gghhearrr..." That damned gibberish. He tried to yell to shut up at whoever it was but he couldn't, then he realized that his vision was completely black. "Wwwaack ooupp..." "Shut up!" He screamed in his head, but no sound came. He felt a sharp sting across his face. He saw a bright light for a brief second before blurry shapes began to form.

Tribune Valnnia's face materialized before him. "Are you awake?"

Yorren groaned. "Why are you on my ship?" He finally got out.

"Good, you're still alive. What's the last thing you remember?"

He groaned again. "I was on deck. The captain had been thrown overboard. I was running. Then... I don't know." He tried to sit up but felt a sharp pain throughout his body.

Namia put her hands on his shoulders and pushed him back down. "Easy. Don't try to get up."

"That storm... It was magic..."

"We know. It was a Thalmor trap."

"Serana... Where is she?"

Namia motioned behind her. Serana was slumped on top of a stack of boxes snoring steadily from beneath a bear pelt.

"She hasn't left your side since we fished you out of the water."

It was only then did Yorren become fully aware of his surroundings. He was laying on the floor under several animal pelts and a plume of frost left his mouth with each breath. Throwing the pelts off he looked down at his body and saw his chest, arms and legs were wrapped in bandages. The parts of his body that weren't bandaged were covered in intricate scars reminiscent of tree branches. "What happened?"

"You were struck by lightning, your ship was destroyed, and you were thrown into the water. We thought you were dead. When we finally found you, Priestess Thealas pulled nearly a hundred pieces of shrapnel out of you. By all rights you should be dead."

Yorren sighed. "How many people made it off my ship?"

"Not many. Maybe a couple dozen."

He struggled to get up again, only for Namia to hold him down. "I need to speak to General Tullius and Legate Rikke."

Namia's face darkened. "We lost track of the General's ship in the storm. We never saw it make it out."

"And Rikke's?"

"Burned down. No one made it off."

"Gods damn it all." Yorren forced himself up, ignoring the pain and Namia's attempts to stop him. "How long have I been out?"

"A little over three weeks."

"That must be why I'm so damned stiff everywhere." Namia laughed to herself. "Where are we?"

Her smile vanished. "After we made it out of the storm, we were ambushed by the Thalmor. Once we were done with them the captain tried to get our bearings but... we don't know where we are."

Yorren punched the floor. "Gods damn it all!" He shouted.

Serana groaned and stirred. "Yorren!" She jumped from her box and tackled him with a hug. "Don't you ever do that to me again you hear!" She started crying on his shoulder as he returned her hug. "If you ever do that again I'll kill you myself. You understand."

"I love you too." When they separated Yorren noticed that she was looking thinner than usual. "Have you been eating?" She shook her head.

Namia spoke before Yorren could say something. "We do have a Thalmor prisoner on board."

Yorren and Serana both knew what she was insinuating. "Have you questioned him?" Yorren asked.

"We have but he's been resilient to the… usual methods of questioning. Perhaps Serana can be more effective."

"You tortured him?"

"Well asking nicely didn't work too well..."

He looked at Serana who nodded. "Alright. Help me up so we can deal with him."

Serana helped Yorren stand and allowed him to lean on her as they traversed the ship. The overall mood of the soldiers, he saw, was gloomy and desperate. He couldn't blame them.

When they arrived at the room the prisoner was in; they found Priestess Sorosi Thealas standing in front of the door. The Dunmer smiled when she saw Yorren. "It's good to see you finally up and about." She noticed Namia standing next to him and scowled. "The prisoner is still recovering from your last, 'session'."

"Priestess, I must ask you to stand aside." Yorren said. "He won't be needing you anymore."

She was visibly displeased and disturbed, but offered no objection. As the three made their way past her, she spoke. "Legate?" They stopped. "Just please try to make it quick..." She walked away.

The Thalmor prisoner had his arms cuffed and chained to the ceiling, while each one of his legs was chained to a wall. His body was covered from head to toe in scars, bruises, and burns. Without lifting his head he muttered, "Back for another round, bitch?" When he did finally look up, Yorren could see in his eyes that he was close to breaking. When he looked at Namia she had a wicked grin. Under normal circumstances he would be bothered, but the Thalmor weren't deserving of mercy.

"Yes I'm back, but no, you won't be dealing with me today." The prisoner spat. Namia motioned behind her. "Let me introduce you to Serana."

Serana walked passed Namia and licked one of her fangs, smiling wickedly. The prisoner's demeanor quickly changed to one of terror as he began thrashing against his chains. Serana walked up to him and held him down. The prisoner screamed as she bit into his neck and started to drink. After a moment she released him, with the holes closing as she withdrew her fangs.

"You don't taste half bad, but I've had better." She whispered seductively in his ear. She intentionally let some of his blood drip down her chin.

Yorren limped over to where they were sitting. "Now. Are you ready to talk, or, do we have to let her turn you?" Serana hissed at the prisoner. He thrashed against his chains trying in vain to escape. Yorren signed. "Serana..."

She lunged at the prisoner, when she was mere inches from his face he screamed. "ALRIGHT!"

"What was that?"

"I'll talk! I'll talk... I'll tell you what I know."

"Good. Now, how did you know of our movements?"

"It was one yours!"

"I can smell it when you lie." Serana said inches from his face.

"I'm not lying! It was a high ranking Imperial Officer!"

"What's their name?" Yorren asked.

"I don't know..."

"Well what were they? Man? Woman? Nord? Imperial? Khajiit? Young? Old? What?"

"Older Male Imperial. That's all I know."

"How did you conjure a storm that powerful?"

"They were testing a new weapon."

"Who? What weapon?"

"The High Magi's Council."

"What weapon? Don't make me ask again!"

"I don't know!" Serana bore her fangs and hissed. "ALL I KNOW ARE RUMORS I SWEAR!" The prisoner was sweating and panting heavily.

"Well?"

"It's a staff. It's supposed to be able to level entire cities. They say it was made with the very souls of the members of the last Magi Council."

Yorren and Namia exchanged looks. "What happened to the fourth ship?"

"What fourth ship?"

Yorren grabbed the prisoner by the neck. "Don't lie to me."

"I'm not! My orders only involved the three ships! I swear! No one said anything about a fourth! I'm just a soldier! I don't know anything else! I swear!"

Yorren released him. "I believe you." The prisoner sighed in relief. "Serana kill him."

"WHAT! NO! YOU PROMISED!"

"I did no such thing. I said she wouldn't turn you into a vampire, not that you'd live."

The elf was in shock. "Don't worry." Serana said as she ran her fingers over his neck. "I won't eat you all at once. A girl's got to maintain her figure you know." The prisoner thrashed against his chains again. "Hang him from the ceiling."

Yorren went outside and motioned for some soldiers to come in. He relayed her orders to them. The prisoner fought against the guards as they tried to undo his chains. Namia summoned a ball of swirling greenish yellow energy in her hand and fired it at the prisoner. When it hit him, his body failed him and went completely stiff. The soldiers bound his feet together and his hands behind his back. They lifted him upside down and hung him from a meat hook. Yorren motioned for them to leave the room.

Once they'd cleared out, Serana picked up a large bucket that had been sitting by several other torture implements and placed it on the floor under his head. She drew the dagger she wore at her hip and pressed it against the prisoner's neck.

"P... please..." he cried. He flailed in a way reminiscent of a fish that had just been caught.

Serana gently ran her knife across his throat, just enough to draw a small line of blood. He winced. "Oh come now." Serana said playfully, "I get worse in the bedroom." She licked up the line of blood that had trickled out of the cut before pressing her knife against the side of his neck. With a quick slash Serana opened an artery and blood spray covered her face. The prisoner squirmed as his own blood gushed out of his neck, down his face, and into the bucket on the floor. Serana grabbed his head and returned her knife to the wound and cut towards the other side. The prisoner tried to speak but only more blood and unintelligible garble came out as she sliced through his windpipe. When she severed the artery on the opposite side of his neck the blood simply drained rather than violently gushing like the first. Serana licked her knife clean before placing it back in its sheath. When the blood stopped draining she moved the bucket out from under him and undid the chains holding his feet to the ceiling. He landed on his head with an audible crack and his head twisted in a sickening angle. A portion of his spine was protruding from the back of his throat and his head was being held on by only the muscles and skin on the back of his neck.

Yorren called the soldiers back in. "Throw the body in the ocean."

"Yes sir." They dragged the dead prisoner out of the room.

"So?" Namia asked. "Do you believe what he said about their weapon?"

"That they have it? Yes. That it's powered by the souls of mages? No, not really. The real question is how did the Thalmor get their hands on it?" Yorren replied.

"What about General Tullius? It seems awfully suspicious that his ship wasn't in their attack orders." Serana said.

"Do you think he betrayed us?"

"It certainly seems like it." Namia replied.

* * *

><p>After three uneventful weeks on sea they finally saw land on the horizon. When they attempted to approach the shore, the unusually rocky coastal waters proved too much for the ship and it was damaged beyond repair. They decided to savage the derelict ship and construct a camp. Two weeks later several tents, buildings, and even makeshift walls, towers, and spiked barricades had been erected. Yorren gazed across the land. They were mostly surrounded by grasslands with a small forest to the west, but no towns or villages were in sight. He'd sent parties to scout the surrounding lands but they came back with nothing of interest. As the sun had just finished setting he made his way back to his and Serana's tent. He'd noted that the food they were able to recover from the wrecked ship was close to running out. They'd constructed a fishing raft but no one had been successful at finding a decent spot to fish at.<p>

When he walked into his tent, he saw Serana sitting on their bed wearing a simple robe. When she saw Yorren she sprawled out on the bed and allowed the robe to fall open revealing her naked body. Yorren climbed on top of her and kissed her. She wrapped her arms and legs around him and slowly kissed down his neck to his shoulder. Yorren bit her neck causing her to shudder. As she was starting to undress him Serana jolted and stiffened.

"What's wrong?" Yorren asked.

"Listen. You hear that?"

A moment later the unmistakable sound of horses charging reached his ears, followed by yelling and the clashing of steel. Yorren jumped to his feet and grabbed his greatsword he'd left sitting by the bed. "Throw some armor on!"

"No I'm going to go fight naked!" Serana yelled as Yorren left the tent.

In the center of camp Yorren saw a wall of horses mounted by riders clad in dark grey armor, flying a banner with what looked to be a red man sprawled out upside down over a white X. A few riders were thrown off their horses by lightning attacks but in the confusion they were cutting through his men like butter. "FUS RO DAH!" As he shouted a shock wave ripped through the horsemen throwing them backward as if they weighed nothing. The Imperial soldiers took the advantage and retaliated swiftly. Yorren charged with them. He ran to one of the men as he was beginning to stand and with a swing of his greatsword, severed the man's head. Most of the attackers were on their feet again starting to lose ground. A lightning bolt sped past Yorren's head and struck six men, sending them flying backwards. He turned and saw Namia with another chain lightning spell charged before she released it into the attackers again. Yorren heard someone running towards him and turned to parry the man's swing. The attacker swung again at Yorren's shoulder, which Yorren deflected before quickly changing his swing to cut through the man's abdomen. Another man charged him only for Yorren to hit him in the face with the pommel of his sword. As the man fell to the ground Yorren drove his sword through the man's chest.

He heard galloping rushing towards him and raised his sword to swing at the horse. His blade made contact but he was thrown backwards and his sword went flying. He got to his feet as another man reached and swung wildly at him. Yorren dodged the attacks and grabbed the man's sword arm. He kneed the man in the crotch and wrenched the sword from him before stabbing the man in the chest. Yorren saw a group of six more charging him. His face was spotted in blood and he could feel the adrenalin coursing through him. He'd forgotten what the thrill of battle felt like. "Come at me you milk drinking bastards!" He smiled as he shouted "MUL QAH DIIV!" The shock wave doubled back onto him forming into glowing orange full body armor with a tail and large wings on his back. While his dragon aspect form didn't allow him to fly he could jump far greater distances, run faster, and possess greater strength than any mortal man, mer, or beast. While his armor was ethereal it was stronger than steel, as one of the more unfortunate of his attackers found out when Yorren parried the attack with his wrist. He punched the man with his other hand and sent him flying backwards. The others charged again after the shock of seeing Yorren encase himself in dragon armor. He punched another in the face hard enough that Yorren thought he heard the man's neck snap.

He jumped over the rest and ran to his greatsword. Picking it up he charged the men and brought his sword down into one of their heads, cutting down into his chest. Yorren pulled his sword out and stabbed into the next man's chest lifting him off the ground, and cutting out through his shoulder before the man had even finished falling. "YOL TOOR SHUL!" He shouted at the other two. They fell to the ground screaming as the fireball melted their flesh. He saw a dozen or so of the attackers jump on their horses and flee the camp, the rest were either surrendering or being put to sword or spell. It was then that he realized that Serana was nowhere to be seen on the battlefield.

* * *

><p>Serana had decided for the sake of haste, that she would forgo wearing the red leather tunic of her royal vampire armor and instead only wear the steel reinforced chest piece. As she was buckling the belt that held the chest piece in place she heard someone enter the tent. She spun around and saw four men with swords staring at her.<p>

"Well looky what we've got here boys." One of them said with an especially hungry look.

Serana's chest piece hadn't been secured yet and her breasts were partially exposed. She had no doubt the men were staring at them. She slowly backed up to where her father's sword was sitting. When she and Yorren killed her father, Lord Harkon, she'd claimed it since its enchantments only worked for a vampire. When she picked up the katana it glowed a deep red. "Turn around and leave." She said making sure to show her fangs.

All but one them laughed. "I don't think this is a good idea Ramsay..." The fourth said.

The hungry looking one turned to his comrade, "If you're scared of the woman then we won't let you have a turn with her." Ramsay looked at Serana with a disgusting smile, "At least not while she's still alive we won't." The man gave in and started walking towards her with the rest.

"You should listen to your friend." Serana said. "He's the only one of you thinking with his head and not his cock."

One of them spat on the ground before the four ran for her. She charged an ice spike in her off hand. Serana drove her sword through the first man's chest and threw the ice spike at the second, hitting him between the eyes and sending him backwards. The one who'd been afraid of her swung his sword, which she dodged before driving hers between his neck and shoulder. In the fighting Ramsay had sneaked behind and slammed into Serana, knocking her sword from her. Ramsay put a knife to her throat.

"Make one move and I'll cut you." He hissed in her ear while he reached under her chest plate and fondled her breast. Serana stood perfectly still. "Good." He removed his hand from her chest and began undoing his pants. "I'm going to enjoy this." He licked her neck.

Serana almost vomited. "No. You won't." She kicked his leg out from under him and felt his knife cut her throat open as he fell. She looked down as blood dripped from her throat onto her chest and almost laughed, but otherwise ignored it. She turned and grabbed Ramsay's knife hand as he was getting up then twisted it. His arm cracked and he screamed. With her other hand she grabbed him by his neck and lifted him into the air. His face was twisted in pain and fear. She bore her fangs and hissed inches from his face. He grabbed her arm with both hands as best he could in an attempt to get her to release him, but she only squeezed his throat harder.

He tried to speak, but could only gag. Before long his face started to turn a shade of blue. Serana threw him into a shelf and it shattered at his impact and fell on top of him. As he tried to crawl out she rested the tip of her sword against the underside of his jaw. "Move and I drive this into your fucking skull."

Yorren ran into their tent in his dragon aspect form. "Are you alright?" He asked looking at the three dead bodies.

"Nothing I couldn't handle." Serana removed her sword from Ramsay's throat. "What should we do with him?"

"I'll put him with the other prisoners." Yorren grabbed Ramsay by the arm and dragged him out of the tent.

Serana smiled and bore her fangs at Ramsay as Yorren dragged him past her. "Maybe I'll eat you later." She hissed. She couldn't help but laugh when she saw the look on his face.

* * *

><p><strong>Build up time is over. We're now in full swing.<strong>

**Next time: The North responds to Ramsay's defeat. **


	4. Chapter 4

**Sorry this one took longer than the rest to get out, but I tend to have a hard time writing the slower paced chapters. Enjoy! : )**

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><p>Eddard Stark sat in the great hall in Winterfell listening to a Bolton soldier recite what Maester Luwin had referred to as a 'colorful' tale.<p>

"I swear m'lords! I saw it! That man turned into a dragon!"

"That's enough." The normally calm Lord Roose Bolton snapped. "We will hear no more of these gross exaggerations."

"Now don't be so hard on the lad." Maester Luwin said. "I'm sure the boy believes what he says." He turned to face the boy. "The light can play tricks on the eyes. Especially in the heat of battle and when there's been a little too much ale or wine drank beforehand perhaps?"

"I wasn't drunk!" The boy yelled.

"That's enough!" Lord Bolton yelled.

The boy cowered. "Yes m'lord."

Ned looked at the members of his house gathered. He could tell that they were all thinking relatively the same thing, the boy was insanely drunk, mad, or both. At the end of the table he saw his ward, Theon laughing. Ned expected him to say something rude or stupid, but fortunately he had the sense to keep his insult to himself.

Lord Bolton finally spoke, "Despite the boy's greatly exaggerated stories, these wildlings do pose a great threat to us. One hundred fifty seven of my men attacked their camp, and only twenty three made it back."

"How many did you say there were?" Ned asked the boy.

"I don't know… Maybe about two to three hundred m'lord."

"Are you sure they were wildlings?"

"Well what else could they been m'lord?"

"Have you ever seen a wildling camp before?"

"No m'lord…"

That was not the answer Ned had hoped for, but the one he expected.

Lord Bolton spoke before Ned could. "You don't believe that they were wildlings Lord Stark?"

"It's not that I don't. But I do have doubts about the wildings' ability to not only sneak a force that large over the wall but manage to get as far into Northern lands as they did." He kept the part about the wildlings being unlikely to repel any kind of coordinated military attack to himself. If they really were wildlings, then Lord Bolton's military strength was sorely lacking.

"Since your brother is in the Night's Watch, you of all people here should know how dangerous the wildlings are."

"Aye, I do. I know how the wildlings act, and this doesn't match."

"So you intend to do nothing then?"

"I never said that. You want men? Fine, you'll have them. But I will lead them."

Lord Bolton nodded. "As my Lord wishes. I can have four hundred men ready to march two days after I return to the Dreadfort."

"And I will five hundred ready by that time. Is that suitable Lord Bolton?"

"Yes my Lord, and many thanks." Lord Bolton bowed and his solider left.

When the two were gone Ned turned to Maester Luwin. "Send a raven to Castle Black. Tell them what happened and ask if they can send a man immediately."

"Yes my Lord." The old man bowed and left.

"Father?" Ned's eldest son Robb asked. "You don't think these are wildings do you?"

"I don't know what to think. But a Night's Watch Brother will for sure. I just hope Lord Bolton is right and not about to drag us into a war."

* * *

><p>"Benjen!"<p>

"Ned!" The two brothers hugged as Benjen Stark approached Ned's army of nine hundred. "We got a raven saying you had wildling problems, so they sent me."

"Their camp is over the hill." The two men rode past the army and over the hill they had gathered at. Lord Bolton was waiting for them at the top. The camp could be seen a mere few hundred yards away.

Benjen turned to Lord Bolton, "You sure that's it?"

"Of course. Why do you ask?"

"That's no wildling camp."

"Are you calling my men liars?"

"No, I'm calling them stupid."

Lord Bolton turned and faced Benjen, "You'd best remember who you're talking to."

"I'm the best the Nights Watch has at killin' wildlings. I've seen every kind of camp they've built. That ain't one of them. They look like military men."

Ned sighed. "Alright I want to know who they are." He turned to the army, "Hold position here until I say otherwise."

He motioned for his brother and Lord Bolton to follow him. As the three approached the camp, Ned watched as ten archers sprang up from behind the palisade wall with arrows notched.

"Come no further or you will be fired upon!" One of the archers yelled. Ned held up his hand for the three to stop. The archer yelled again. "Speak your name and your reasons for coming here!"

Ned couldn't tell for certain from that distance but he could have sworn the man speaking had green skin. "I am Eddard Stark, Lord Paramount and Warden of the North. I would speak to your leader." He yelled back.

"If you come to demand surrender then the Legate has nothing to speak with you about!"

"I come making no demands. I only wish to parley."

The archer spoke to a man next to him, who then ran off. After a few minutes the man returned. The archer yelled again. "You may approach, alone, and unarmed."

Ned dismounted his horse and handed his greatsword Ice to Benjen. "This is a mistake." Lord Bolton said.

"Your men got us into this. I'm trying to get us out without further bloodshed."

"Don't forget that they killed or captured one hundred thirty four of my men."

"I'll do whatever I can to get them to release any prisoners."

He walked off towards the camp. As he walked; a man walked out from behind the spike barricade. The man wore armor that looked to be made of bones with a red sash draped over. What made Ned nervous however was the greatsword the man was carrying. He looked behind and all eyes were on him. His men looked as though they were ready to charge the camp at a second's notice. As the man walked closer Ned could make out his face. The man looked like a Northerner. He was tall and broad shouldered, with strong muscle tone. His hair was a long and scraggly dark grey, that fell to his shoulders. His face was heavily scarred (most looked to be years old) but some looked relatively fresh. The thing about the man's face that was most unnerving to Ned however was his eyes. They were an unnatural silver that seemed to glow when the light hit them.

The two stopped when they were mere feet away from each other. "I came to parley honorably. Why have you brought a weapon?"

The man laughed. "Your people must have a different definition of honor than mine."

"How so?"

"You have impressive titles Lord Stark. You command this... North, correct?"

"In a way. Yes."

"Tell me then. You order your men to ambush my camp in the dead of night with no warning or provocation and slaughter my men. Then when that fails you return with an army. What part of that sounds honorable to you?"

"I assure you I had no knowledge of the attack when it happened. I would never issue such an order."

The man looked over Ned's shoulder and smirked. "Alright. You want to talk, let's talk."

"You're still armed. How do I know you won't try to kill me?"

He laughed. "If I wanted to kill you, you wouldn't be standing. But, fine."

Ned was expecting the man to drop his sword, however instead he held it out for Ned to take. The man had to be either overly confident or stupid to hand his weapon over like that. Ned examined the weapon. The blade was made from bone wedged into the main body. He expected a weapon to that was made from bone to be crude, but this however looked as if it had been made by a master craftsman. It had an unexplainable elegance to it and it felt like he knew far more about swordsmanship then he did just by holding it.

"Now shall we talk?" Ned nodded. "I am Legate Yorren Frostborn of the Imperial Legion."

"Why have you come to our shores Legate?"

"Unintentionally. We mean you and your people no harm. We were on a mission to Cyrodiil when we were ambushed and thrown off course. We were adrift at sea for several weeks before we wound up here. But I have no doubt that you would rather talk about the attack on my men, or our prisoners."

"Straight to the point then?"

"Aye. Now, you've heard my side. If you didn't order the attack who did? I can see their banners in your ranks. It still seems to me like they are under your command."

"When I spoke with Lord Bolton he told me that no one had ordered it. His bastard son acted on his own accord in response to what he thought was a wildling threat."

Yorren laughed. "Does this Lord Bolton's bastard son happen to be named Ramsay?"

"Yes. Is he one of your prisoners?"

"He's lucky he is. He tried to rape my wife during the attack."

"Is she alright?"

"She nearly killed the boy. I'd be more worried about him."

Ned wasn't sure if Yorren was exaggerating. He'd hear the stories of Ramsay's cruelty, although no one had been able to prove the rumors true. While he doubted Yorren's wife's ability to kill Ramsay, Yorren looked dead serious as he said it.

"Now," Yorren continued, "I'm sure you want to get the prisoners back."

"Aye, I do. But I'm sure you aren't willing to just hand them over."

Yorren smiled. "They were the aggressors, and no, I'm not willing to hand them over for nothing. Normally I would not be willing to trade them at all, but… We are not in an ideal situation."

"What do you want?"

"First, I want you to send your army home. I will not negotiate a peace when my men are in direct danger."

"Surly you don't expect me to just send all my men away and leave me your prisoner."

"Why would I hand a prisoner my sword? Fine keep two hundred of them, but NOT any of the Boltons."

"I'll have to discuss this with my commanders."

"Of course. And I'm sure they will tell you it's a stupid idea."

Ned couldn't help but laugh. "Yes, I'm sure that they will." He handed Yorren his sword back and left.

* * *

><p>Lord Bolton was unsurprisingly displeased with the agreement but relented with the promise of having his prisoners freed. Once the Boltons and the rest of the seven hundred men had ridden off Ned returned to see Yorren walking out laughing.<p>

"What's so funny."

"You. I didn't think you'd actually send your men away like that."

"I'm a man of my word. I expect that you be one as well."

Yorren nodded. "I can respect that. I'll be honest with you. We are far from home, we don't know where we are. We have no ships, no gold, and we are almost out of food and water. We need these and we keep the Bolton's horses. We have eighty three prisoners. If you are willing to trade us the supplies we need, their lives are yours."

Ned thought about Yorren's proposal. "How many men are in your camp?"

Yorren looked thrown off by the question, as if he was unsure whether to take it as a threat or not. "One hundred eighty five. We lost about thirty in the attack. Why do you ask?"

"I'd like to make you a counter offer." Yorren said nothing. "I can't offer you gold or ships, but instead of trading good to you I can offer you the hospitality of Winterfell. Serve in my household and you can have all the supplies you and your men require. I swear on my honor and by the laws of gods and men that no harm will come to any of you while under my roof."

"You speak as though we intend to stay in this land forever. I assure you we don't."

"Then only for as long as you stay."

Yorren nodded. "And if I refuse your generous offer?"

"Then I will arrange for your goods to be traded."

"And would serving in your household entail? We're soldiers, not maids and cooks."

"You'll be what you're best at."

Yorren smirked. "That's a non answer. But I have one more question. Why make this offer? And be honest, on your honor."

Ned smirked. "On my honor. Alright. It's mostly so that I can keep an eye on you. There's no better way to know someone than having them under your roof."

Yorren laughed. "I like you Lord Stark. Alright, I accept your offer." He held out his hand and Ned shook it. "I'll go inform my men."

Yorren turned to walk back to his camp. "I do have a question for you." Ned said. Yorren stopped. "Your armor and sword, what are they made from?"

Yorren got a curious look on his face before smiling. "Dragonbones."

* * *

><p><strong>Next time: The King pays a visit.<strong>


	5. Chapter 5

**This one's going to be longer than the previous chapters. Hope you guys don't mind.**

* * *

><p>Serana sat in the Winterfell courtyard watching Ned Stark's second youngest son Bran practice archery. While she was no archer herself, she could easily tell that the boy needed far more practice. She was able to stifle her laugh, unlike his brothers , when he missed the target for the third time in a row. She couldn't help but laugh at Rob and Jon when Ned chastised them for laughing at Bran. It was only when an arrow flew past Bran into the target his was aiming at that Serana noticed that Arya was no longer sitting next her. Arya stuck out her tongue out at Bran, who then chased her. Serana laughed then sighed. She thought about Lucia back in Whiterun. Yorren had adopted the girl a year before he'd freed Serana from the crypt her mother had stuck her in. Though Lucia was nervous about her at first, she eventually grew to love Serana like her mother and Serana loved her like a daughter. More so because Serana knew that Lucia would likely be the closest she would ever get to being a mother; the odds of her still being able to have a child if she were cured of vampirism were slim.<p>

Despite that these people had never heard of a vampire most could still tell that she wasn't quite human. She was used to the odd and nervous looks people gave her as she walked by, but unlike most people here Arya seemed to be drawn to her. Arya wasn't anything like her sister Sansa, or the other women in Winterfell and the two of them had grown close over the three months they'd been in Winterfell. Serana thought that Arya would fit right in in Skyrim. She nearly jumped when she felt a hand on her shoulder.

"See something interesting?" Yorren asked as he sat down next to her.

"No, why?"

"You've been staring that the wall for nearly ten minutes."

She blushed. "Oh… I was lost in thought. So did you finish rummaging through their library?"

"Mostly. Westeros' history is quite interesting, especially what I read about the Targaryens." Serana got a curious look. "It's said that they rode dragons into battle."

"Do you think they were dragonborn like you?"

"It's possible, but they were wiped out in a civil war not too long ago." He looked disappointed so Serana grabbed his hand. He smiled. "But that's not what I came to talk about."

"Oh, what then?"

"Lord Stark has invited us to an execution."

She rolled her eyes. "How riveting."

"Well apparently it's a big deal around here. They found a deserter from the Wall. I know you wanted to meet some of them, though this isn't the ideal situation."

"I thought women don't normally get involved in these sorts of things here."

"Well you're no normal woman are you?"

She smiled and kissed him. "No. I guess I'm not.

* * *

><p>Serana watched as two Winterfell guards dragged the deserter along. He had to be no more than twenty and had a thin, scraggly look to him. As he passed he muttered something about the 'White Walkers' over and over again. The guards eventually let him to a rock with a grove cut into it.<p>

"I know I broke my oath. I know I'm a deserter. I should have gone back to the Wall and warned them but… I saw what I saw… I saw the White Walkers…" He said as Ned stood over him.

Yorren tapped her shoulder. "Are you alright?" He whispered.

"Why do you ask?"

"You look pale. Well, paler than normal. You ever heard of a White Walker?"

"No. You see anything about them in your books?"

"Only stories. Not much else."

Out of the corner of her eye Serana saw the glint of steel and looked up just in time to Ned's greatsword slicing through the boy's head. Serana scoffed. "Well that was anticlimactic…" Yorren rolled his eyes and walked off. Something about these White Walkers made her uneasy, but she wouldn't have thought anything else of them until she overheard Ned talking with Bran about them, specifically when he said they'd been gone for thousands of years. "So were the dragons…"

* * *

><p>It had taken Serana three days to find a book that even mentioned White Walkers, and it was a children's story book. She'd nearly given up on her searching until several volumes of 'A Treatise on the Long Night' had turned up while preparing Winterfell for the king's arrival.<p>

The books were not written by the same authors, and contradicted each other on almost every point. Most didn't mention the White Walkers at all, and some mentioned them but said they were only pale skinned wildlings. The few that actually had information described them similarly to the children's book, only in more detail. They had glowing ice blue eyes and grayish white skin. They feared and hated the sun and anything warm. They poured from the far north, killed all in their path and raised the dead as their soldiers. Serana's stomach twisted as she read through the book. The White Walkers reminded her a little too much of vampires and Molag Bal.

Serana heard feet shuffling behind her. She paused from her book, silently relived for the distraction. "It's not considered wise to sneak up on a vampire."

"How did you know I was here?" Arya moaned.

Serana smiled. "I think I'm good enough at sneaking around to know when someone else is trying." Arya looked down at her feet disappointed. "Don't worry. I'm sure one day you'll be excellent at it."

Arya smiled and sat next to Serana. "Still looking for stuff about the White Walkers?"

Serana closed her book. "Yes and no. I've found information but it's not much."

"Old Nan says they're just stories people tell to their children so they'll behave."

"What do you think?"

"I don't know."

"Well, if someone had told you that there were people with fangs and glowing orange eyes, who drank blood and couldn't go out in the sun and never aged, would you believe them?"

"Probably not. But you can go out in the sun. I've seen you."

"I'm not like most vampires. I usually have to wear a hood, but the sun's not very bright most of time here so I can get anyway with not using it."

"And if you don't age won't that mean that Yorren will eventually get to be an old man and you'll still be the same as you are now?"

Serana twitched. "Has anyone ever told you you're sometimes too curious for your own good?"

Arya looked at her feet. "Yes…"

Serana ruffled her hair. "That's enough questions for today. I know your father doesn't like you spending time alone with me either. Why don't you go see if anyone needs help setting up for the king?"

"Fine." Arya whined and ran off.

Arya's question had hit a sore spot. It was something she knew but didn't want to think about. More and more she'd thought about getting cured when they returned to Skyrim. While she'd never wanted to be a vampire, she'd long ago accepted that part of herself and accepted that she would likely never be human again, but with that came the realization that she would outlive all of her friends and loved ones. They would all eventually grow old, wither, and die around her and she would be the same as the day they'd met, only then she'd be alone. She returned the book to its shelf after deciding that going to help set up might take her mind off her recent unpleasant thoughts.

* * *

><p>Serana, Yorren, and Namia stood behind Ned and his family and between John and Maester Luwin as everyone gathered around for the king's arrival. Serana laughed as Arya ran up at the last minute wearing a helmet too big for her. Just as she stood by Sansa the castle gates opened and the parade of men rode in.<p>

The first two were clad in silver-gray armor with white cloaks and stupid looking large finned helmets. The next two to come through were a teenage boy wearing red and gold velvet robes and a large man in dark grey armor with a full helm that looked like a wolf's head. The boy smiled at Sansa who blushed and smiled in return. Following them a carriage pulled in along the wall. Lastly was a very fat man accompanied by two more of the white cloaks rode in, everyone dropped to their knees. Serana, Yorren, and Namia did the same. The man approached Ned and motioned for him to stand. Once Ned rose to his feet everyone followed.

"You got fat." The king said. Serana had to bite her lips together in order to not laugh. She was fortunate that the king laughed at himself after Ned gave him an incredulous look. The king and Ned hugged.

The king then proceed to greet Catelyn and their five legitimate children, to John's displeasure. Serana couldn't blame him. Catelyn treated the boy like he was some horrible monster, just for being born from a different woman. She had no doubt that the king would all but ignore John's existence. She was proven right when after greeting Bran the king turned his attention to Yorren.

Ned and Catelyn parted ways as the king walked past them. He held out his hand and Yorren shook it. "You must be the mysterious visitor from across the sea I've heard so much about."

Yorren nodded. "Yes your Grace. I am Legate Yorren Frostborn of the Imperial Legion from Tamriel." He motioned to his left. "This is my second in command, Tribune Namia Valnnia."

"Your Grace." She bowed.

"A woman? In command of a military unit?"

"I'm probably better than most military commanders in the seven kingdoms."

Serana snorted. At least Namia was consistent with running her mouth. Yorren, Ned, and most of the gathered people were looking in shock, but the king just smiled and laughed to himself. Serana suspected that the king wasn't the kind of noble that wanted everyone to kiss his ass.

The king looked Serana up and down. "Well now aren't you a lovely looking lady."

She bowed her head. "Thank you your Grace. I'm Serana, his better half." She nudged Yorren in the side.

King chuckled. "You in his military too?"

"No your Grace, but I still know plenty of way to kill a man."

The king laughed and turned back to Yorren. "I like her! Sharp tongue on her." He clapped Yorren on the shoulder.

"I'm glad you approve your Grace."

"Bah! Enough of this, 'Your Grace' shit. Any friend of Ned's is a friend a' mine! Call me Robert." Yorren nodded. Robert made his way back out of the crowd of people. "Alright Ned, take me to your crypts. I want to pay my respects."

"We've been riding for a month my love," The woman who had been riding in the carriage said. "Surely the dead can wait?"

"Ned." Robert motioned for Ned to follow him. He gave the queen an apologetic look before following Robert.

Yorren and Serana exchanged a look. Robert's blatant disrespect for his wife was apparent to everyone gathered. Serana heard Arya ask something about 'the Imp', and the queen stormed off to one of the white cloaks.

* * *

><p>Night had fallen over Winterfell and most everyone had gathered together in the great hall for a feast. Serana sat outside enjoying the fresh air. It was expected that she return to the feast, but she intended on taking her time. She never enjoyed large crowds, and seeing Robert drunkenly going after multiple women in the hall didn't make her want to return any faster. She heard a faint sound coming from the smithing area. Listening closer it sounded like someone hacking with a sword. When she walked over to investigate she saw Jon swinging at a practice dummy. He didn't see her so she stayed still watching him. He was good, but not as good as Yorren, though not many people were. She wondered how a fight between Yorren and Jaime Lannister would turn out; assuming Yorren only used weapons and not his Thu'um of course.<p>

Serana decided that she'd been watching him long enough. "You're not bad with a blade."

Jon jump and spun around. "Serana... I didn't see you standing there..."

She smiled. "I know. I'm good at that."

"Shouldn't you be at the feast?"

"Probably. But a room full of Lords makes me... Well it brings back bad memories." She sat down on a barrel. "My father fancied himself a Lord."

"I'm guessing he wasn't a good one?"

She laughed. "Unless you count wanting to kill my mother and wanting to use me as a sacrifice in a blood ritual to blot out the sun forever, then no." Serana looked at Jon's face and laughed. He looked to between utter shock and disbelief. "You have a good man for your father Jon."

"So what happened to your father then?"

"Yorren and I killed him..." He started to say something but Serana stopped him. "I'm sorry I just stomped out here and interrupted you."

"It's not a problem I'm just practicing."

Serana smiled. "Wanna do some sparring?"

"You know how to fight?"

"Well I'm no swordsman but I know my way around a blade. Unless of course you're afraid I'll beat you."

Jon laughed and threw her a practice sword. "You're on. But don't think I'll go easy on you just cuz you're a woman."

"I hoped you'd say that."

She swung at Jon who easily blocked. She pulled her sword away and swung for his side, then up from below. Both times she was parried. She didn't say it but she was going easy on him at first. After several minutes Serana decided to step back let Jon be the aggressor. His attacks were violent and angry. Serana was still able to dodge or parry them, but he was becoming more and more aggressive as time went on. He overextended his last swing as Serana sidestepped him. She grabbed his arm and twisted his sword from him.

Panting he held up his hands. "Yield." They turned around when someone started clapping behind them. "Uncle Benjen!" Jon hurried over to his uncle and the two men hugged.

"It's good to see you again Lady Serana."

"Good to see you too."

Benjen sighed and turned back to Jon. "Rode all day. Didn't want to leave you alone with the Lannisters. Why aren't you at the feast?"

"Lady Stark thought it might insult the royal family to seat a bastard in their midst."

"Well, you're always welcome on the wall. No bastard was ever refused a seat there."

"So take me with you when you go back."

"Jon…"

"Father will let me if you ask him."

"I know he will. The wall isn't going anywhere."

"I'm ready to swear your oath."

"You don't understand what you'd be giving up. We have no families… None of us will ever father sons…"

"I don't care about that!"

"You might, if you knew what it meant." There was the sound of breaking glass and rowdy cheering. "I'd better get inside, rescue your father from his guests. We'll talk later."

Benjen started to walk away and Serana followed him. "Benjen, a moment please?"

"What is it?"

"I'd like to go beyond the wall."

Benjen stood there dumbfounded for a moment before he spoke. "May I ask why?"

"It is personal."

"Well it's not strictly forbidden, but I can safely say that it's never been requested before, and certainly not by a woman. No offense"

"None taken." Serana waved her hand. "Look. I know it's dangerous, unlike what most people seem to think. I've seen things that would make most men run and cower under a desk. I AM one of those things. Trust me when I say that I am more than capable of handling myself."

Benjen sighed. "Alright. I'm going on a ranging a few days after we return to Castle Black. You can come with us. But I can't speak for how the Lord Commander or the rest of the Night's Watch will react to having a woman in their midst. Remember, most of them haven't so much as seen a woman in years."

"I'm sure it'll be fun. And thank you." She bowed her head as Benjen strolled off to the great hall.

Just as Serana was about to follow him she noticed someone walking towards her. "Did I hear that correctly? A woman going to the wall?" Serana saw a very short man walking towards her with a wine skin in his hand. "Forgive me for eavesdropping, but I don't believe we have been properly introduced. You must be Lady Serana."

"I am. And you must be Lord Tyrion Lannister."

"I see you've heard of me. I do hope it's mostly good."

"No. Not really. Tales of your exploits are not usually told in a… well-meaning manner."

"Such a shame. But I do have to ask, what does a high class Lady such as yourself hope to find beyond the wall?"

"Like I told Benjen, it's personal."

Tyrion sighed. "I see. Well I too intend on visiting the wall, though I don't intend on going to the other side. Perhaps I'll see you on the way there."

"Most likely."

Tyrion took another swig of wine. "Well, I think I'm ready to go in now. How about you?" She nodded. "Then would you allow me the honor of escorting you back to the great feast?" He held out his hand.

Serana took it. "You know my husband might not approve."

"Jealous man?"

"Not usually, but you do have a reputation." The two shared a laugh as they walked to the great hall.

* * *

><p>Serana walked the streets of Winterfell alone in her thoughts. The previous night's feast had been what she'd expected. Robert had gotten drunk, generally been an ass and embarrassed his family. Even Ned had gotten uncomfortable about his old friend's loud, obnoxious behavior, though no one had said anything to stop him. Aside from the kings antics the feast was just like any other she'd been to. Once Robert had awoken from his drunken slumber he and Ned left for a hunting trip. Wanting to know more about Tamriel he'd asked Yorren to accompany them. She doubted that he'd tell very much, he wasn't very thrilled with Robert's behavior either, but he went with them none the less.<p>

"Serana!" She turned around to Namia walking towards her.

"Tribune Valnnia." She nodded.

Namia waved her hand dismissively. "You're not in the Legion. Just call me Namia. I've never been a fan of titles anyway."

Serana smiled. "Alright. So what are you doing out here?"

"Out for a stroll, just like you. How'd you sleep after the festivities?"

"I don't need to sleep."

Namia laughed. "Oh come on, I know better. I saw you pass out on the ship. You need to sleep, so why do you say otherwise?"

Serana shrugged. "Don't know. Sounds more… vampirey… I guess. How about you?"

Namia laughed. "Like a baby."

"So what's the real reason for you coming here? I don't buy that you just happened to be strolling around at the same time and place as me."

"Why, you are a suspicious one aren't you? It's not that big of city. Is it not possible for two people to run into each other while walking?" Serana simply glared at her. Namia rolled her eyes and sighed. "Fine. I wanted to try to get to know you. We're likely going to be here a long time. We might as well try to be friends. Besides, you are somewhat famous."

"Me? Why?"

"You're the woman who won the heart of the mighty dragonborn. Do you have any idea just how many woman swoon over the idea of being with the dragonborn?"

"Probably a lot."

Namia laughed. "Too many. And the funniest part is almost none of them even know what he looks like. He could be sitting right next to them and they'd never know."

"And he'd play along with it too!" Both women laughed again.

"GET BACK YOU LITTLE SHIT!" Someone yelled behind them.

The two turned around and say a young boy in rags running for his life from a shop keeper. Namia grabbed the boy and put him behind her. "What in Oblivion's going on!?" She yelled at the shop keeper.

"That littl' shit's thief! That's what's goin' on!" The man was overweight and very red in the face, though whether it was from his anger or his attempt at running Serana couldn't tell.

"What did he steal?"

"A loaf a bread. What's it too you?"

"How much?"

"What?"

"How. Much."

"Two silvers."

"You're chasing a starving child through the streets over two silvers worth of bread?"

"It ain't 'bout the money. It's 'bout the principle."

Namia rolled her eyes. "Here. This should cover it." She dropped six gold coins in the man's hand. "Now let's just go on and forget this happened."

"You some kind a stupid bitch? I said it's not 'bout…" Namia cleared her throat and motioned with her eyes to look down. His face paled when he did. Namia had a large dagger pressed against the man's groin. Serana was surprised too; she'd never even seen Namia draw it, let alone that she even had it on her in the first place. "I th… think I'll go back ta' my shop now… H… have a nice day… ladies…"

As he scurried off Namia knelt down by the boy. He was scared, and likely didn't know whether or not Namia was about to kill him. She handed him a small pile of gold coins, to the boys shock. "Get out of here, and don't get caught next time."

"That was… Impressive." Serana said after the boy ran off. "From what Yorren's told me, you'd never help anyone like that."

"Yorren doesn't know me very well. But I suppose he would be right. Normally I wouldn't but, I just seem to have a soft spot for the little urchins."

"Maybe if you tried to get to know him like you're doing with me."

Namia scoffed. "I know he doesn't like me or trust me and that's fine. He's got no reason too."

"I think he's been starting to warm up to you since this who thing started."

Namia shrugged. "He's not wrong about me. Mostly anyway."

Serana sighed. "So you like children?"

"Very much actually."

"Even thought of having one yourself?"

"I could ask you that same question."

Serana looked confused. "I'm a vampire. I can't have children. I thought that would be obvious."

"I'm sorry. I guess I could be a bit more tactful." She sighed. "I can't either."

"Why not?"

"Many years ago, before I was even twenty years old, I was in a tavern, drunk off my ass, had enough pride for every patron there, but none of the skills to back it up. I got into a fight, and I got stabbed, down there. I was thrown out the backdoor and into an alleyway to die. Someone eventually found and took me to a healer. They did what they could but, I never healed properly…"

Serana looked horrified. "Can you…" She lowered her voice. "Can you still have sex?"

Namia laughed. "You should just ask Theon that."

"You slept with Theon?"

Namia shrugged. "If you want to call it that. I'd be surprised if the boy will be able to walk straight for days." The two laughed. "No, that's not the problem. I've been pregnant twice since then. I couldn't carry either to term and let's just that… Well it wasn't pleasant when I found out."

"I'm so sorry."

Namia waved dismissively. "I wouldn't be a good mother anyway. But it was a good thing in a way. It's made me what I am now. I learned how to wield magic and this," She pulled out her knife, "Has saved me more times than I can count. There's not a damned person in all of Tamriel that can wield a knife better than me." Serana doubted the claim but before she could say anything they heard a loud crash ahead of them. Namia sighed. "What in Oblivion is it now?"

When they heard someone scream they ran and found a large crowd of people gathered around a destroyed market stall. The two shoved their way through the crowd yelling at them to get out of the way. They froze when they got to the center. In the rubble of stall laid Bran. His eyes were glazed over and half shut. He was covered in cuts, his right arm looked to be badly broken, and there was a trickle of blood running down the back of his head. Namia knelt down next to him and put her head on his chest. "He's still alive! Go! Go get the Maester and the Priestess!"

Serana was already running off before she could finish her sentence.

* * *

><p>Winterfell had been in a depressed, dull, haze over the next few days. Bran had been visited by Maester Luwin and Priestess Sorosi several times. Sorosi was able to mend his arm and Bran would live, but despite their best efforts they were unsure if he would ever walk again.<p>

Catelyn couldn't be pried away from Bran's side. Yorren and Serana had both come in to say their goodbyes her and pay their respects to Bran after Ned had. Jon had come by as well, but after telling Bran goodbye Catelyn couldn't have pushed him out the door fast enough. Even Cersei and Joffrey had come to pay their respects, though Serana knew Joffrey was only there because his uncle Tyrion had slapped him until he'd agreed to it. Serana had quickly grown to dislike the boy, almost as much as she disliked his father, but she thought it best to keep that to herself.

Serana stood just outside of the Winterfell gates atop hill enjoying the cool morning air. The royal party was gathering nearby for the trip down to King's Landing, while Benjen was gathering a small group to head north to the Wall. She saw Yorren and Namia talking and walked over to them.

"I'm trusting you." He said to Namia.

"It won't be misplaced. I'll guard Winterfell with my life." Yorren looked confused at the lack of her normal impudent tone. They saluted each other before Namia walked back through Winterfell's walls.

Yorren and Serana smiled at each other. "So, this is it." She said.

"You sure about going?"

"Yeah, I'm sure."

"Just try not to get into too much trouble."

She scoffed. "Oh come on, it's me remember."

"That's why I'm worried." He laughed.

Serana playfully slapped him. "Ass."

"Try not to miss me too much."

"I think you'll miss me more. I'll be having too much fun hunting things while you'll be stuck in a castle with a bunch of brown-nosing nobles." She traced the bite marks she'd left on his neck during their 'session' last night. She was relieved to find out that they hadn't woken half the castle in the middle of the night.

"You do make it sound so tempting."

They hugged. "I promise I'll hurry back." She whispered. "I love you."

"I love you too." They kissed then parted.

As Yorren walked away she did one final check to make sure her armor and sword belt were fastened properly before walking to Benjen's group.

"Ah Lady Serana, glad to see you finally joining us." Tyrion said. "I think you might very well be the most interesting person on this little trip."

Jon and Benjen glared at him. Serana simply rolled her eyes as she climbed up on a horse they had waiting for her.

"I sent a raven to the Lord Commander telling him about your visit. Hopefully he'll be able to keep the men in line." Benjen told her.

"You don't think they'll be happy to see me?"

Benjen laughed, "No lass, I think some might be a little too happy to see you."

Serana chuckled as the group rode off.

* * *

><p><strong>Sorry if this chapter feels a bit rushed in places, but I was trying to get a lot done without making the chapter too long. The chapters are likely going to be getting longer then they have been. So that means that I likely won't be able to update as often. Also, thanks for views! I never imagined that I would have nearly 3,000 by now! You guys rock!<strong>

**Next time: We pay a visit to Whiterun.**


	6. Chapter 6

**So for some reason this chapter just wouldn't come out the way I wanted, even after a couple rewrites, but I'm relatively happy with it now. It was going to be longer, but sorta turned into more of a teaser for the Skyrim side of the story.**

* * *

><p>Whiterun was alive with its usual busy streets and market. Most of its residents and visitors went along with their daily routines without a care. Lydia envied them. She sat next to Aela in Jorrvaskr's patio watching Lucia sparring with Athis. Despite that she was twelve and had only begun training a few months ago she had become quite skilled and had the dark elf on the defensive.<p>

Aela contentedly sighed. "The Harbinger would be proud of her." Lydia didn't respond; she only continued to watch. "Have you told her yet?"

"No. I still don't want to believe it."

"You should tell her soon. She'll hear about it one way or the other, better it be from you."

"They never found his body. He could have survived. Trust me when I say he's hard to kill."

Aela smiled. "Aye. That he is, but it's better she face what could be the hard truth and have it be wrong, than hold out hope forever and have it be for not."

Lydia sighed. "I supposed you're right. I'll tell her tonight."

Athis' sword went flying through the air. Despite losing the match he had a giant smile across his face. Aela laughed. "Vicious little wolf she's turning out to be." She turned to Lydia. "Have you ever thought about joining the Companions? You'd make an excellent addition to our ranks."

"I appreciate the offer, but I'm still sworn to protect Yorren and his family."

"The Companions are his family in a way... But I understand. You're always welcome to join if and when you wish."

Lydia nodded. She looked back over to Lucia, who was receiving instructions on how to grip her sword better. She waited until they were done talking before calling Lucia. "It's getting late. It's time to go."

"But Aunt Lydia..."

Athis put his hand on her shoulder. "It's alright little one, we can continue tomorrow."

"Fine." She returned her training sword to its rack and walked to Lydia.

"You did really well today." Lydia said as they made their way through the wind district of Whiterun. It was a longer walk, but it avoided the crowded market area.

"He was going easy on me wasn't he..." Lydia chuckled. Lucia scowled. "I told him not to... I can beat him! Why didn't he give me a fair fight?"

"Lucia, that was him giving you a fair fight. Athis is at expert at one-handed weapons. You're good for your age, but you're not that good yet. One day you will be, but not yet."

Once Lydia had unlocked the door to Breezehome, Lucia immediately stormed off to her room and slammed the door. She'd taken Lydia's old room and Lydia had moved to the master bedroom. Lucia had been in this foul mood for nearly two weeks. It was obvious that she was upset over her parents, and Lydia couldn't blame her. Lucia's real mother had died and the rest of her family threw her out on the streets to die. No doubt she thought that was going to happen again. Lydia knocked on her door. "May I come in?"

"I guess..."

Lucia was sitting on the edge of her bed holding a doll that Yorren had given her for her birthday last year. Lydia sat down next to her. "There's something I need to talk to you about..."

"Mama and papa are dead aren't they..." It was more of a statement than a question.

Lydia sighed. There was no point in lying. "We don't know. They found two ships destroyed when they captured General Tullius, but your parents bodies weren't there."

"They lied! Mama and papa weren't traitors!" Lucia starting crying.

The Thalmor had captured General Tullius on a trading barge with a small army of legionnaires. They'd brought him and his men before the new emperor and the elder council, who had accused them of treason. In order to appease the Thalmor they had Tullius and his men executed. Lydia knew that one of the other two ships was Yorren's, though the Thalmor refused to say who was on them, probably because they knew all of Skyrim would be out for blood if they'd killed the dragonborn.

Lydia put her hand on the girl's shoulder. "I know."

Lucia swatted her hand away. "JUST LEAVE ME ALONE!" She screamed and sobbed into her pillow.

Lydia sighed and bit her lip nervously. "Alright." She stood up. "I'll be in the other room if you want to talk." When Lucia didn't answer her she left the room and gently closed the door behind her.

She shook her head. She'd faced down giants, trolls, dragons, and daedra without a second's hesitation, but when it came to dealing with a child Lydia was all but clueless. She grabbed a broom and started sweeping the master bedroom. She didn't know why, she just did. After about an hour and the room had been swept as good as it could be she went to check on Lucia. She knocked gently but there was no answer. She slowly opened the door and saw Lucia curled up asleep with her doll. Lydia smiled and closed the door. She went downstairs and started a pot of soup. It was nothing special, just something quick to eat. When it was done she poured a bowel and took it to Lucia's room. Lucia was still asleep so Lydia left the bowel on her nightstand and left. Once she was downstairs, she poured herself a bowel, but quickly found that she didn't have much of an appetite. She made her way back up to the master bedroom and closed the door behind her. She stripped off her clothes and slid into bed. She smiled and pulled the warm furs tight against her skin before falling asleep.

She awoke when she heard her door open and shut. Without moving and with one eye open she locked onto the dagger on her nightstand. She breathed a sigh of relief when the intruder spoke.

"Aunt Lydia?"

"What is it Lucia?"

"Th… Thank you for the soup…" She turned to walk out.

"Lucia, wait a moment." Lydia got up from bed and threw on a robe to cover herself before lighting a candle. "That's not all you wanted to talk about was it?"

Lucia looked at her feet. "I'm sorry I woke you…" She said meekly.

"It's fine." Lydia patted the bed. "Come, sit with me." She did but it was easy to tell that her attitude had gone from angry and resentful to sad and afraid. "What's on your mind?"

She started crying. "Please don't make me live on the streets again!"

Lydia hugged her. "Shh. No one's going to make you live on the streets. I promise."

"You mean it?"

"Many years ago I swore an oath to protect your papa. You're his family so it extends to you now. I'll never abandon you."

Lucia hugged Lydia tight and cried into her shoulder. "Do you think they're alive?"

Lydia smiled and nodded. "If there was any way that they could have made it off their ship, they did. And if they are out there somewhere I know they're doing everything they can to get back here."

Lucia smiled. "Aunt Lydia, can I sleep in here with you tonight?"

Lydia nodded. Once she'd gotten back in bed Lucia curled up around her and quickly fell back asleep.

* * *

><p>They spent most of the next morning browsing around Whiterun's market. Lucia was noticeably happier and even volunteered to go to some of the stalls to get it done faster. It was all the better since Lydia had to stop in Belathor's shop and didn't want Lucia exposed to the man. Every time she came to his shop he either tried to get her to buy some useless trinket for way too much money or tried to hit on her. As she paid, he stayed true to tradition.<p>

"Are you sure there's, nothing else I can interest you in?" He winked and gave her a sultry look.

Lydia rolled her eyes. "Belathor, your attempts at flirting are pathetic. And no, there's not. There wasn't last time, or the time before that, and there won't be next time."

He shrugged. "Can't blame a man for trying." He went to polish some sliver cups he had sitting on the shelf behind the counter.

Lydia shook her head and walked out. When she exited the building she was confronted with the sight of Lucia begin bullied by Braith.

"We all heard about your traitor papa shrimp! Gonna get kicked out again huh?"

Lucia was short for her age. The two girls were both twelve, but Braith was almost a head taller than Lucia, who hated having that pointed out. "Braith go home." Lydia commanded.

"You're not my mama. I don't have to listen to you!"

Before Lydia could say anything to her, Lucia swung her fist straight at Braith's face. Braith was face down in the dirt with a bloody nose before she even knew what happened. Lucia climbed on top of her and started yelling. "Don't call me a shrimp! And don't you ever EVER call my papa a traitor again!"

"Lucia that's enough." Lydia said. Lucia got off Braith, who then scurried off. Lydia turned and glared at a guard chuckling behind them. "You didn't think to intervene?"

He shrugged. "Would have if it got too rough. Children fight. Not like her friend wasn't askin' for it either."

She rolled her eyes and started back to Breezehome. Once they'd dropped off everything Lydia and Lucia made their way back to Jorrvaskr for Lucia's training session with Athis. Lucia didn't know it but she had all but officially accepted into the ranks of the Companions.

They saw Athis waiting for them when they arrived. Lucia grabbed a training sword and the two soon began sparring. Lydia took her usual spot at the table and saw Aela practicing her archery. The woman was a sight to behold; she never missed a shot and only stopped when she'd emptied her quiver and the target dummy was all but invisible under a layer of arrows.

Lydia sat back and stared blankly into the sky. She hadn't noticed that Aela had come and sat next to her until she started talking. "So did you tell her?"

"She took it better than expected."

Aela nodded. As they watched Lucia parried Athis' swing, but rather than pulling her blade back she twisted it and wrenched it from his hands and tackled him to the ground. "Are you sure she's not the harbinger's real child?"

"I'm sure."

"Lydia." Someone said from behind them. They turned to see Vilkas. Yorren had placed him in charge of Jorrvaskr while he was away, which was often. "The Jarl has requested both of us in Dragonsreach."

"Didn't he say why?" He shook his head. "Alright. Just give me a minute." She walked over to Lucia who was being given another lesson in proper foot placement. "I have to go see the Jarl. I don't know how long I'll be so just head back to the house when you're done here." She told Lucia.

"Okay." Lucia hugged her goodbye.

* * *

><p>"I've told you before," Vilkas said to those gathered in the Jarl's war room, "The Companions don't get involved with war. We're not soldiers."<p>

"We're not talking about a petty civil war. We're talking about a potential invading force coming to conquer my city." Jarl Balgruuf replied.

"Do you really think that the Thalmor will respect the Companions neutrality? They'd slaughter you like dogs, just like they'd slaughter everyone else in this city." Irileth interjected.

Vilkas sighed. "Has there been any thing to make you think the Thalmor are going to make a move against the Empire?" He asked Legate Quentin Cipius.

"No, not technically, but I knew General Tullius. The man was many things but a traitor wasn't one of them. They set him up. If I wanted an excuse to go to war, finding a high ranking officer breaking a truce would be a damned good one."

"Alright, fine. If the Thalmor come, the Companions will help hold the city."

Jarl Balgruuf bowed his head. "Thank you. I knew I could count you. Dismissed everyone." Everyone stood from the table and slowly filed out of the room. When Lydia stood Jarl Balgruuf stopped her. "You were awfully quiet back there."

"Everyone seemed to have things under control."

Jarl Balgruuf sighed. "He's been gone for months now. We all know he was on one of those ships the Thalmor destroyed."

"They never found his body."

"Even if he did survive the ship, where would he have gone? They were in the middle of the ocean Lydia. There's no way he could have made it back to land."

She hung her head down. She knew he was right, but she couldn't bring herself to admit it. He handed her a rolled up paper. "What is this?"

"You're officially discharged from Yorren's service."

"I swore an oath."

"To man who's now dead Lydia. Let him go."

"What about his daughter? She's lost her family, twice."

"His adopted daughter. She has no real relation to him."

"How can you be so cold?"

"Lydia, you know it's not about that."

"I know what it's about. And I won't let her get thrown out on the streets again."

"Lydia…"

"I won't, let her."

Jarl Balgruuf sighed. "Fine. Have it your way. But you have to adopt her. I can't have an orphaned girl and an unbound housecarl living together in a dead man's house."

"Fine. I'll pay any fees and sign any papers."

"I'll have Proventus write them up for you. They'll be ready by tomorrow."

Lydia bowed her head. "Thank you my Jarl."

* * *

><p>It was late afternoon when Lydia returned home. Lucia was still out so she decided to clean and inspect her armor. She opened a large closet in the master bedroom to reveal the set of Akaviri armor along with a shield and katana that she had received when Yorren inducted her into the Blades. Her time as a Blade was bitter-sweet, and though she was technically the last remaining Blade she no longer considered herself one. Despite having killed Alduin, Delphine was adamant that Yorren still kill Paarthurnax. When he refused, words were exchanged, and when words came to blows Lydia came to Yorren's defense while Esbern came to Delphine's. When the dust had settled Delphine and Esbern were on the floor in pools of each other's blood.<p>

Lydia pulled each piece of her armor out and wiped it down with a cloth; inspecting for rust, dents, or any other damage. Most of the pieces were fine except for the shield, which had a dent the size of her forearm along the edge. She made a mental note to take it to Adrianne next door tomorrow. She set the shield aside and returned the rest of her armor to the closet. Lydia removed her sword from the rack at the top of the closet and drew it from its sheath. This was her second sword. The curved katana had taken some getting used to when she first joined the Blades; she made the mistake of trying to parry a strike rather than deflect, and ended up bending the sword.

She looked out the window and saw that it was already night, and had been for a while. She started to worry about Lucia until she heard the sound of girls laughing outside. The door opened and closed and Lucia came bounding up the stairs smiling and giggling.

"Did I miss something?" Lydia asked.

"A girl I met. Her family just moved in today. She seems really nice." Lucia sat down next to Lydia.

"Well does your new friend have a name?" Lydia sheathed her sword and leaned it against the bed.

"Babette."

* * *

><p><strong>The chapters are going to start having multiple POVs. My beta reader has suggested that I split them up into smaller chapters (7a, 7b, etc.). If I do this they would all still be released at the same time like they would be as if they were all in one. I don't like the idea very much, but I'll let you guys decide. I'll put up a poll and if the result for the smaller chapters is high enough I'll do it.<strong>

**Again thanks everyone for reading! **

**Next time: Serana goes to the wall, Catelyn faces the assassin, and Yorren shouts at stuff.**


	7. Chapter 7

**Many people have been complaining about how long this chapter has been taking to get out (myself included), so I decided to split it up into two chapters. Also now with finals over for most this should be a nice little treat. Anyway enjoy. : )**

* * *

><p><strong>Serana<strong>

Serana knelt by the river and washed the deer's blood from her hands. She hated hunting and she hated animal blood. It couldn't sustain her like human blood could, but it would have to do. She would likely have to go kill another animal or two even if she rationed the blood. Once she had drained the blood from the deer, she'd brought the deer to the group's camp to be cooked. When she'd finished washing she gathered the vials of blood and put them in a pouch on her belt after choking one down.

As she made her way back to camp, she saw Benjen accompanying two men with their hands bound together. She couldn't tell what it was from the distance but something about them made her skin crawl. Jon and Tyrion were sitting opposite of the two captives around the fire. She liked Tyrion, he was smart and witty, although his refusal to acknowledge that there was anything threatening beyond the wall irritated her. As Serana got close to the camp she could hear Tyrion needling Jon about joining the Nights Watch. Serana decided she would have a bit of fun with him.

"A bastard boy, with nothing to inherit. Off to join the ancient order of the Nights Watch along with his valiant brothers in arms."

"The Nights Watch protects the realm..."

"Ah yes, yes. Against grumpkins and snarks, and all the other monsters your wet nurse warned you about. You're a smart boy. You don't believe that nonsense."

Serana slowly crept up to Tyrion and stopped mere inches away from him. "Perhaps that's why he does." If anyone had told her that a dwarf could jump as high as Tyrion just had she wouldn't have believed them. Jon nearly fell over himself laughing.

Tyrion lifted himself out of the dirt and made a vain attempt to compose himself. "Lady Serana… I didn't see you standing there."

"If I'd wanted you to, you would have."

He sat back on his log and took a swig from his wineskin. "Well now that you've your fun at my expense, would you care to join us?" She sat down between him and Jon. "So, do you believe in all these monsters that supposedly live beyond the wall?"

"I think you're one of few here who don't. Look into my eyes and tell me what you see." Tyrion was confused but he did anyway.

"You don't have eyes like I've ever seen before, but what's that got to do with what monsters live beyond the wall?"

"Sometimes I wonder if thick headedness is intentional. I am one of the most dangerous and feared creatures in all of Skyrim. Any other one of my kind wouldn't hesitate to kill every single person here and drink their blood dry."

"Well then I suppose it's a good thing we have you with us and not one of them, isn't it?"

Serana could tell she'd unsettled him, though he was good enough at hiding it that Jon didn't notice. She looked over her shoulder at the two men who'd joined their group to find one of them glaring menacingly back. "What's with them?"

"Rapers. Chose a life on the Wall over castration. Do they make you nervous?"

Serana hadn't realized that her hand had wrapped around the handle of her sword when Tyrion had said what they were. Ever since the ritual that turned her into a vampire all those centuries ago rapers held a special place of loathing in her heart. She relaxed her hand. "I don't think your Lord Commander would like it very much if his new recruits arrived at the wall dead.

"You were raped weren't you?" Jon asked.

Serana was surprised by how direct his question was. She nodded. "Yes. Yes I was, a very long time ago. It's why I'm what I am now."

Jon and Tyrion both had looks fear and morbid curiosity. "But how?"

Serana shook her head. "You don't want to know."

Tyrion was the next to talk after several minutes of silence. "Well this has been a rather, interesting, conversation." He uncorked his wineskin and took a drink. "Wine makes everything better." He passed it to Serana. She gave him a weak smile and took a drink before passing it to Jon.

* * *

><p><strong>Catelyn<strong>

Maester Luwin walked into Bran's chamber and placed his hand on the boy's head. Catelyn tried to ignore him and continue on with her sewing. She didn't want any visitors, simply to be alone with Bran.

"It's time we reviewed the accounts, my lady." He sighed and clasped his heads together. "Do you want to know how much this royal visit has cost us?"

"Talk to Poole about it."

"Poole went down south with Lord Stark, my Lady." Catelyn stared at him. "We need a new steward, and there are several appointments that..."

"I don't care about appointments!" She snapped.

"I'll make the appointments." Both she and Luwin turned to see Rob standing in the doorway. "We'll talk about it first thing in the morning."

"Very good my lord." Luwin said. "My lady."

Catelyn ignored him and returned to her sewing. Rob strode across the room and opened the window. Catelyn could hear the howls and barks of the direwolves below and shuddered.

"When was the last time you left this room?"

Catelyn was barely able to maintain her composure. "I have to take care of him."

"He's not going to die mother. Maester Luwin and Priestess Thealas both say the most dangerous time has passed."

"What if they're wrong!? Bran needs me!"

"Rickon needs you!" Catelyn simply stared at him. "He's six. He doesn't know what's happening, he. He follows me around all day, clutching my leg, crying..."

"CLOSE THE WINDOW! I can't stand it! Please make them stop!" Catelyn cried.

Rob walked over to the window to close it but paused. "Fire." Catelyn looked up at him as he backed away. "You stay here I'll come back." He rushed out the door.

Catelyn could hear people shouting along with bells ringing on top of the wolves howling. She rose from her chair a cautiously walked to the window. Off in the distance a large raged in the castle. Suddenly however Catelyn got the unsettling feeling that she was no longer alone in the room. She turned around to see a tall slender man in black robes standing in the doorway.

"You're not s'pposed to be here. No one's s'pposed to be here." He paused and looked to Bran. "It's a mercy. He's dead already." He drew a large dagger from his belt. He moved towards Bran, but was stopped almost as soon as he did.

Seemingly out of know where a second person appeared behind him. A woman wearing black and red leather including a full faced cowl had him restrained. She had grabbed and twisted his open arm and to Catelyn's surprise held the man's own dagger to his throat. It took the man a moment to even realize that he had been disarmed. He tried to struggle but the woman pressed the dagger in drew a trickle of blood.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you." She whispered in his ear. "Such an amateur. Getting caught like this... Tisk tisk tisk."

"Wh... Who are you?"

The woman chuckled. "A professional. Though I must say starting a fire like that was a rather... Interesting approach... Well maybe if it had worked that is." He tried to break free of her grip. She had restrained both his arms by now. "I'd stop moving if I were you. Unless of course you want me to open your throat." He swallowed and held still. "Good. Now normally I'd let you go on with the job but unfortunately for you I have a soft spot for the little urchins." She shook her head. "Just how desperate can you be to kill an unconscious child in his own bed?" Catelyn heard voices coming from down the hall. The woman heard them too and sighed. "Looks like it's your lucky day after all." She quickly removed the blade from the man's throat and plunged it into his knee. He fell to the ground screaming as the woman bolted for the opened window and jumped through it. Catelyn ran to the window and looked out, but saw no sign of the mysterious woman.

As she turned back around Bran's direwolf Summer and several Imperial guards ran into the room. Summer bared his teeth and growled at the assassin on the floor as two of the guards lifted him to his feet. "Are you alright Lady Stark?" One asked.

She nodded. "He tried to kill Bran. Take him to the dungeons." The guards bowed their heads and dragged the assassin away. She sat down in her chair shaking and wondering if all that had really just happened. Summer was lying on the bed next to Bran and gave her a curious look before putting his head down on Bran's lap.

* * *

><p>Catelyn woke up horribly groggy the next morning. She had maybe gotten an hour or so of sleep, and that was only out of the sheer exhaustion of pacing around Bran's room most of the night. Most people in the castle had heard about what had happened and a large crowd had gathered around the entrance to the dungeons.<p>

"Lady Stark." Tribune Valinna greeted and bowed her head. Catelyn nodded. "My men have been searching the castle for the woman, but they haven't been able to turn anything up. Are you sure she jumped out the window? That's quite a fall."

"Yes, I'm sure."

Namia sighed. "Well it's a big castle. Plenty of places a Dark Brotherhood assassin could hide."

"A who?"

"My apologies. I forget you've never heard of them. The Dark Brotherhood is an ancient order of assassins in Tamriel. They're the best at what they do and the most feared organization in the Empire."

"You almost sound like you admire them."

Namia shrugged. "Why deny it if it's true. They recently assassinated Emperor Titus Mede II. It honestly doesn't surprise me that one was able to sneak onto one of our ships." Catelyn gave her a weary look, unsettled by the woman's explanation. "Shall we?" Namia motioned to the door. Catelyn nodded and the two made their way through the crowed.

When the two made it through the door they were greeted by Ser Rodrik Cassel, who bowed his head to both. "He's not talking."

"You haven't been able to get anything out of him?" Catelyn asked. Rodrik shook his head.

"No my lady."

Namia scoffed. "I'll make him talk." Rodrik gave her a weary look which she ignored. She motioned for four Imperial soldiers to follow her.

The group stopped outside the man's cell. "Please, let me talk to him first." Catelyn said.

"As you wish my lady." Rodrik nodded. "Open the cell." The Winterfell guards did.

Catelyn walked in followed by Namia and Rodrik. The assassin was sitting in on a bench in the corner, dressed in torn and stained rags. His knee had been bandaged where he'd been stabbed. He looked up and glared at Catelyn when they walked in.

"Why did you try to kill my son?"

"Was a mercy. Like I said."

"Who sent you?"

He spat. "They'd kill me if I told you."

"I'll kill you if you don't." Namia said nonchalantly.

He laughed. "Dead men tell no tales."

She walked up to him and whispered in his ear. "You'll talk, or you'll wish I'd killed you. Your choice." She turned to her soldiers. "Bind him to the window bars."

Two of the Imperial soldiers lifted the man by his arms and undid his bindings. They wrapped them around the window bars and rebound his hands. The man drooped down, unable to support his weight with is legs.

Rodrik quickly understood what Namia was going to do. "Lord Eddard would never approve of torture!"

"Lord Eddard isn't here." Namia turned to Catelyn. "Do you want to find out who wanted your son dead or not?" Catelyn nodded. "Good." Namia turned to the guards. "Leave us."

The Imperial soldiers resignedly obeyed and left the room. The Winterfell guards both looked to Catelyn confused. "My lady, are you sure about this?"

Catelyn nodded. "Do as she says." They bowed and left.

"You should go too. You don't want to watch this."

"No. I'm staying."

Namia shrugged. "Suit yourself." She closed the door once all the guards had left. The assassin began to panic.

"I thought you Northerners didn't torture people?"

Namia smiled. "I'm not a Northerner." She put down a black leather satchel on the bench the man had previously been sitting on. "That's a nasty looking wound you've got there." She tapped at his bandaged knee. "Sure you don't want to talk?" He looked at her with his eyes wide open with fear. Namia ripped the bandage off. His knee was bleeding through the stitches and looked yellow and infected. Namia shoved the bandage in his mouth and wrapped it around his head, gagging him. She kicked him in the knee before walking to the bench. He screamed into the gag and his legs fell out from under him.

Catelyn watched Namia open the satchel nervously. She had begun to pull out a multitude of torture tools, most of which were covered in old blood stains. Namia pulled out many types of knives, hooks, pliers, spikes, and other objects Catelyn couldn't identify, before she decided on a large corkscrew. She replaced all the other tools in the satchel and set the corkscrew on the floor. Catelyn nearly jumped backwards when Namia's hand spontaneously ignited in fire. The assassin was violently thrashing against his bindings and trying to shout through his gag. A gout of fire poured from Namia's hand onto the corkscrew. The man's eyes were wide open in horror. Once the corkscrew began to glow a dull red, the fire stopped and Namia pick it up and walked next to the assassin.

"You should have talked." She smirked and whispered into his ear. Namia swung the corkscrew and stabbed it into the man's abdomen. He screamed into his gag as it melted into his flesh. His flesh stretched, tore, and burned as she slowly began to twist the red hot corkscrew. He trashed like a rabid animal, screaming into his gag and crying. Blood ran down his abdomen and legs before pooling onto the floor. Namia jerked and twisted more, releasing more blood. Catelyn winced at the squelching sound the corkscrew made as it dug further into the man's flesh. Namia released her grip on the corkscrew and kicked his injured knee again when he was thrashing too much. When she continued black goo began to seep out of the wound she was inflicting, and Catelyn nearly vomited from the stench that quickly emanated from it. The man started choking on something. "You want me to move that gag for you?" The man grunted. Namia ripped it off and vomit and blood spilled from the man's mouth. "Are you ready to talk yet or should I keep going?" She twisted the corkscrew.

"IT WAS THE LANNISTERS!" He spit up more blood.

"See. That wasn't so hard was it?" She folded her her arms and glared at him. "Why did they hire you?"

"It was a mercy I swear!"

Namia turned the corkscrew. "Don't lie to me. No one hires an assassin for a mercy kill."

"IT'S TRUE! I SWEAR BY ALL THE GODS THAT'S WHAT HE TOLD ME!"

"What who told you?"

"THE LANNISTERS!"

"His name!?"

"I DON'T KNOW!" Blood was running out of his mouth.

"Then how do you know he was a Lannister?"

He was crying and nearly choking on his own blood. "He... He looked like one... G… Gold hair… Blue eyes… Who else could it be?"

Namia twisted the corkscrew in further and he screamed. Catelyn couldn't take anymore. "STOP THIS! Please! That's enough!" She begged.

Namia scowled. "Very well." She drew a knife from her belt and in one quick motion cut through the man's neck nearly to the bone. Blood poured from the wound and he limply fell as far as his binds would allow.

* * *

><p>Catelyn inhaled deeply as she stood in the godswood. What she was about to tell everyone gathered could very well count as treason. "What I am about to tell you must remain between us. I think Bran was thrown from the tower."<p>

"The boy was always sure footed before." Maester Luwin said.

"When Tribune Valnnia, interrogated..." She shuttered at the memory, "the assassin, he admitted to being hired by the Lannisters. I think he saw something and they tried to kill him. He must have seen something he wasn't meant to see. Why else would they want an innocent child killed?"

Ser Rodrik drew the assassin's dagger. "Did you see the weapon he used? The blade is Valyrian Steel, the handle, dragonbone. Too fine a weapon for such a man. Someone gave it to him."

"They come into our homes. They try to murder my brother. If it's war they want..." Rob started saying.

Theon interrupted him. "If it comes to that you know I'll stand behind you."

"What?" Maester Luwin interjected. "Is there going to be a battle in the godswood? Hmm. Too easily words of war become acts of war. We don't know the truth yet."

"I agree." Namia said. "There's more going here than meets the eye."

"You were the one to get this information out of him." Ser Rodrik said. "Are you saying you doubt your own methods?"

"No of course not. But as I said before. No one sends an assassin for a mercy kill."

"Obviously it was to finish the job."

"Yes but why tell him it's a mercy? It wouldn't make a difference to the assassin. And why give him a specific weapon to use? Surely he had his own. I think we're either dealing with a very stupid Lannister, or it's a setup."

"Either way Lord Eddard must be told." Maester Luwin said.

"I don't trust a raven to carry these words." Catelyn said.

"I'll ride to Kings Landing." Rob replied.

"No. There must always be a Stark in Winterfell. I will ride there myself."

"Mother you can't."

"I must."

After a pause Namia spoke. "You shouldn't go alone. I can send some of my men to escort you."

"No. A large party attracts unwanted attention. Plus your men should be here looking for your Dark Brotherhood friend."

Namia smirked. "I don't think anyone here is in danger from her. She wouldn't expose herself like that if she were after someone."

"How can you be sure?"

"Because she knows that we know she's here. No assassin would make an attempt at their target when they're being actively searched for. No, if she's still here either her target is already dead or there was no target at all."

"You seem to know a lot about assassins Tribune." Ser Rodrik said glaring at her.

"Is that an accusation?"

"Should it be?"

"I've had plenty enough dealings with them to have a good idea how they think."

"That's enough." Catelyn said. "Both of you."

"Forgive me my Lady. If you must go to Kings Landing allow me to accompany you at least. The kingsroad can be a dangerous place for a pair of women traveling alone." Ser Rodrik said. Catelyn nodded in approval.

"Allow me to go as well." Namia said. "If the Dark Brotherhood is operating here Yorren must be told, and it would be best if I told him myself." She looked to Ser Rodrik. "Plus you can keep an eye on me." She smirked.

Catelyn nodded. "Very well. If you think it best. We leave first thing in the morrow."

* * *

><p><strong>Ned<strong>

"FUS RO DAH!"

Ned walked over to where the thundering sounds were coming from to see Yorren standing in the middle of a clearing surrounded by cheering soldiers. He stood in shock when after Yorren said those words a massive shockwave emanated from his month and ripped through a pile of stones and wood.

"Alright pay up!" Yorren said to one of the soldiers, who tossed him a large coin purse. Ned cleared his throat and Yorren turned around. "Lord Stark, I didn't see you there." He quickly bowed his head.

"Walk with me." Ned said. "So what was that all about?"

"Oh, just a little bet I had with some of the men."

"No I mean that… Whatever it was that you did."

"Oh that… That was a Thu'um, like I told you about before. That is just one of the many different ones I know. Some of the men were curious about it so I decided to make a little game out of it." Ned gave him a scowl. "You don't approve?"

"Gambling has never been something I've held in very high regard."

Yorren smirked. "Well to be honest I don't normally either, but every now and then it can be worth it, especially if you already know you'll win."

"You swindled them?"

"They insisted. Plus how else am I to find a captain to ferry me and my men back to Skyrim? I doubt very many would be willing to travel halfway across the world to a continent they've likely never heard of on nothing but hopes and promises."

Ned couldn't help but laugh. "No, I suppose not." He paused for a moment. "Do you really think it wise to be, showing off, like that?"

"I do. If they know what I'm capable of then perhaps they will think twice before trying to cross me. You yourself have said how dangerous King's Landing is."

"I suppose that is an interesting way of looking at it. But I wasn't referring to the men, I was referring to Robert. I've kept him in the dark about your relations to dragons for now, but I don't want him to start asking questions about you."

"You don't trust your friend?"

"It's not that I don't it's just… If he gets it in his head that you are related to the Targarians in any form…"

"You think his reaction will be rather, rash?"

Ned nodded. "Robert has never been one to change his mind once he's gotten an idea in his head."

"I don't see how he would ever find out about my being dragonborn, but I understand your concerns and I'll tone it down."

"Thank you." He nodded. "Are you sure that you must leave for your homeland now? I could very much use your help when we get to King's Landing."

Yorren sighed. "I wish I could. I am grateful for the hospitality you have given to me and my men and I would repay you in any way I could, but I fear that my homeland is soon to break out in a second Great War, if it has not already."

Ned nodded. "I understand." Yorren had told him about the Great War of Tamriel thirty years ago which nearly destroyed his Empire and was the direct cause of the civil war in his country of Skyrim. He recalled Yorren's tales of the Thalmor's cruelty and hatred of men, viewing them as 'lesser beings'. If his stories were true, he sincerely hoped that Westeros would never have to war with them. If what Cateyln's sister Lysa said was true, Ned feared that the realm would soon be tearing itself to pieces and in no position to combat an outside invading force.

Yorren continued. "Though I have thought of late that my returning would be pointless…"

"How so?"

"The Empire is weaker than it has been in centuries, and it's current Emperor Virius Mede… He's not much unlike Robert, only without the powerful houses backing him or any kind of battle experience… I never had any love for the Empire, I joined it by happenstance when I got caught up in the civil war… But if it falls there will be nothing to stop the Thalmor from rampaging across Tamriel…"

Before their conversation could continue one of Ned's men came running towards him. "LORD STARK!"

Ned and Yorren shot each other a worried look as the man came to a halt panting. "What is it lad?"

"Lord Stark… Something's happened. Arya has been brought before the King."

"Why?"

"For attacking the Crown Prince…"

Ned didn't wait for the man to finish and ran for the inn Robert was staying in with Yorren following close behind.

* * *

><p>Ned shoved everyone in his path aside as he strode through the Crossroads Inn. He met little resistance from the Lannister soldiers who shied away from Yorren's piercing glare as he followed Ned. Arya ran up to him and grabbed him repeatedly crying 'I'm sorry.'<p>

He hugged her. "It's alright." He turned and faced Robert. "What is the meaning of this!? Why wasn't she brought to me at once?"

"How dare you speak to your king in that manner..."Cersei said snidely.

"Quite woman!" Robert snapped. "Sorry Ned, I never meant to frighten the girl, but we need to get this business done quickly."

Cersei was quick to pick up the conversation with her snide tone. "Your girl and that butcher's boy attacked my son. That animal of hers nearly tore his arm off."

"That's not true!" Arya yelled. "She just... bit him a little. He was hurting Mycah."

"Joff told us what happened. You and that boy beat him with clubs while you set your wolf on him."

"That's not true! That's not what happened!"

"Yes it is." Joffrey said. "They all attacked me and she threw my sword in the river." His voice quivered as he spoke.

"Liar!"

"Shut up!"

"Enough!" Robert bellowed. "He tells me one thing she tells me another! Seven hells what am I to make of this? Where's your other daughter Ned?"

"In bed asleep." Ned replied.

"No she's not." Cersei said. "Sansa, come here darling."

Everyone in the room turned to see Sansa solemnly walking towards the king. Robert motioned for her to stand directly in front of him. "Now, child... Tell me what happened. Tell it all and tell it true, it's a grave crime to lie to a king."

Sansa looked back at Ned, then to Joffrey. "I don't know... I don't remember… Everything happened so fast... I didn't see..."

Arya lunged at Sansa, hitting her in the back of the head and screaming "LIAR!" Yorren swooped in and grabbed her, lifting her off the ground as she violently thrashed against his arms. "ARYA STOP!" He yelled. After a moment she calmed down and Yorren released her.

Ned noticed how Robert looked disappointed with her behavior, while Cersei almost looked pleased. "She's as wild as that animal of hers. I want her punished." She said coldly.

"What would you have me do whip her through the streets?" Robert shot back. "Dammit, children fight. It's over."

"Joffrey will bare these scars for the rest of his life."

Robert glared at his son. "You let that little girl disarm you?" Joffrey looked down at his feet in shame. "Ned see to it your daughter is disciplined, I'll do the same with my son."

"Gladly, your grace." Ned said.

"What of the direwolf?" Cersei asked as Robert stood from his seat. "What of the beast that savaged your son?"

Robert turned to one of the Lannister guards present. "Have you got the damned wolf?"

"We found no trace of the direwolf your grace."

"No. So be it." He turned to leave before Cersei interjected.

"We have another wolf."

Robert turned to her. "As you will..."

"You can't mean it?" Ned said.

"A direwolf's no pet. Get her a dog; she'll be happier for it." He walked past Ned.

"He doesn't mean Lady does he?" Sansa said worriedly. "No, no not Lady. Lady didn't bite anyone she's good!"

"Lady wasn't there!" Arya yelled at Cersei and Joffrey. "You leave her alone!"

Sansa grabbed Ned's arm. "Stop them! Don't let them do it please! PLEASE IT WASN'T LADY!"

"Is this your command?" Ned half asked half yelled at Robert. "Your grace?" Robert turned for a moment before wordlessly continuing out of the room. Ned felt his stomach sink.

"Where is the beast?" Cersei asked the guard.

"Chained up. Outside your grace."

"Ser Ilyn do me the honor."

"No." Ned said blocking Ser Ilyn. "Jory, take the girls to their rooms." Sansa started to cry and Ned faced Cersei and Joffrey, both of whom had sickeningly smug grins on their faces. "If it must be done, I'll do it myself..."

"Is this some kind of trick?"

"The wolf is of the North. She deserves better than a butcher..."

Cersei sighed and turned to the guard. "Accompany Lord Stark would you?"

"Yes your grace."

Ned shot Cersei and Joffrey one more look of disgust before storming out the Inn, with the Lannister guard close in toe. As he walked towards where Lady had been chained he saw Yorren standing off in the distance conversing with a group of his soldiers. Ned hadn't noticed him leave with all the commotion. He nodded at Ned as he walked by, though Ned wasn't sure what for. Ned continued walking as the Hound walked past with Mycah's body draped over his horse. "The butcher's boy... You rode him down?"

"He ran. But not very fast." The Hound said flatly.

Ned hadn't realized that his hand was on his sword hilt until the guard spoke. "He was just following orders."

Ned glared at him. "Countless horrendous acts have been carried out by men 'just following orders.'"

When they arrived at where Lady had been chained Ned understood the nod Yorren gave him. He still stood in shock as instead of the direwolf they found a dully glowing and melted chain. The guard was shouting for men to help look for the wolf and for someone to get the king and queen. Ned didn't know how Yorren did it and almost didn't want to know, but he did know that Cersei would be furious.

* * *

><p><strong>Yorren<strong>

The campsite outside the Crossroads Inn had suddenly become alive with bustling of Lannister soldiers searching for Lady. Stark men were out looking as well, though noticeably less enthusiastically and thoroughly. Yorren laughed to himself; they could search all they wanted and never find her. It wasn't long before three Lannister soldiers approached him. "The king and queen demand your presence." One said.

He nodded his head. "Very well; best not to keep them waiting." The smug smiles on both Cersei's and Joffrey's faces had disgusted him when they ordered Lady's execution. The thought of seeing those smiles wiped off pleased him to no end, though he would keep his amusement toned down for Ned's sake. Another smile grew on his face. "WULD NAH KEST!" Almost instantly he shot forward several yards. He looked back at the dumbfounded looks on the Lannister soldiers faces and tauntingly shouted to them, "Are you coming or not?" They looked at each other before hurrying to catch up to him.

The walk to the inn wasn't very long which is what Yorren had hoped for. When he was escorted in he was glad to see that unlike before, this time was a small affair; only Ned, Robert, Cersei, and the guard from before were present. As he expected Cersei scowled deeply as he approached. Yorren hid his smile. "Your Grace." He said to both Robert and Cersei as he bowed his head.

Cersei wasted no time with her accusations. "What is the meaning of this?"

"The meaning of what your Grace?"

"You know exactly what. Sansa's beast is missing and you freed it."

"That's a very brash accusation. Do you have any proof?"

Cersei was trying hard not to raise her voice, but Yorren could see the screams aching to come out. "When Lord Stark went to kill the beast its chain was melted and you were seen conversing with some of your men beforehand, who were then seen heading back north."

Yorren glanced at across the room. Robert looked very tired and displeased with the direction this was going but stayed quiet. "Am I not allowed to converse with my own men? And even still, that's not proof of anything."

"It's common knowledge what you and those witches you keep can do. You had them use whatever foul magic you use to melt the beast's chains before smuggling it back to the North."

"Mages, your Grace. And if I may be so bold, how exactly would I or any of my men have been able to melt an iron chain and hide the wolf within the few minutes between your order and Lord Stark arriving to find the wolf not there? If our magic is as powerful as you say why couldn't the wolf have just been magicked away somehow rather than melting the chain? You have no proof your Grace, elsewise you would have me in chains rather than here making accusations…"

"How dare you speak to me in that manner!" Cersei finally snapped.

"Quite woman!" Robert yelled. "Look, I don't bloody well know what you and your mages can do and I bloody well don't care. I'm going to ask you this once and only once and if you lie to me seven hells help you.." He said pointing a fat finger at Yorren. "Did you have anything to do with setting the wolf free?"

"No."

He leaned back and sighed. "Very well then, we're done here."

Ned breathed a heavy sigh of relief but Cersei wasn't so pleased. "You can't be serious! One of their beasts mauled your son and you're going to do nothing!?"

"What would you have me do woman!? We don't have either of the damned wolves! Would you have me execute the daughter of the Hand of the King!? Would you have me execute him and his men!?" He pointed at Yorren. "Would that make you bloody well happy!?"

Cersei was fuming with anger. Her fist was clenched as if she was about punch Robert, but instead she turned around and stormed out of the Inn, with the Lannister guard following in toe. Yorren had to bite the inside of his cheeks to keep from smiling. He couldn't blame Cersei for her anger. She had been made to look a fool publicly. The worst part for her was that she was correct. His men had freed Lady, paralyzed her, and turned her invisible before simply walking out of the camp with no one knowing the better.

Robert finally stood. "That woman will be the death of me…" He muttered before walking past Ned and Yorren, out of the Inn.

Ned grabbed Yorren and slammed him into the wall. "Are you mad!? Openly deifying the king? They could you executed for treason! You've put my family in danger!"

Yorren got to his feet. "Relax. He won't find out."

"How can you be sure?"

"I've taken precautions. Trust me. And if by some chance he ever did find out he won't make a move against you. You're more family to him than his own flesh and blood."

"You'd best be right." Ned caught his breath. "Why did you?"

"The wolf was innocent, and so was Sansa." Ned stared at him. "She doesn't deserve to have her pet murdered to satisfy the prince and the queen's cruelty. And I also have far more an affinity for wolves than most men, even more so than your house." Ned's interest was piqued. "Have you heard of werewolves Lord Stark?"

"I have. Tales of men who can transform into great beasts, but those are just wet-nurse tales." He thought about it for a moment. "Are you saying you're…"

"No. Not anymore anyway. I am now what you see before you, but I have been many things in my life. Been given 'gifts' by many different gods... Enough to last me many lifetimes."

Ned nodded. "I think it best I turn in for the night."

"Agreed." Ned left the Inn leaving Yorren by himself. He had no doubt about what he'd said about Robert. It would be a long time, years perhaps before Robert would find out about Lady being smuggled back to Winterfell. Robert would forgive Ned even if he became mad when he found out. He sighed to himself before departing the Inn. Based on everything he'd seen and heard of the Lannisters and of the situation in Kings Landing, a missing wolf was going to be the least of everyone's worries.

* * *

><p><strong>Since chapter eight is just going to be the rest of this chapter it will be shorter. Thanks again everyone for reading.<strong>

**Next time: Serana arrives at the wall, Catelyn at Kings Landing, and people do stupid stuff.**


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